TomFoolery
by ShyLikeThat
Summary: It was the way she looked at him, like she just saved a whole world rather than stopping a normal high schooler smoke, that made him slowly unwrap the Chappy themed bubblegum and eat it without a single complaint. EDITING IN PROGRESS.
1. Prologue

Title: Tomfoolery

Summary: It was the way she looked at him, like she just saved a whole world rather than stopping a normal high schooler smoke, that made him slowly unwrap the Chappy themed bubblegum and eat it without a single complaint.

Disclaimer**: **Bleach is owned by Tite Kubo.

Notes: Edited on June 7, 2010 so there will be slight major and minor changes in the storyline, all for the sake of making it better, though most will be grammar errors. C:

* * *

-X-

_A paper sat neatly on a desk._

_Suddenly, a woman came and stamped on it._

_It read in fine black ink:_

_Kurosaki Ichigo:_

_Delinquent student yet maintains his spot as the 25th smartest kid at junior level. _

_Regarded as a legend in his school._

_Smokes._

-X-_  
_

A spiky, orange-headed boy was sitting against the fencing around the school rooftop, legs arched up and arms propped on his knees comfortably. In his right hand was a packet of cigarettes; in his mouth was a new lit up stick.

He was wearing the standard uniform of Karakura High, but with a leather jacket and faded red shades folded at the neck of his school-shirt. Along with the typical bad-boy look, he wore a facial expression which told people that he didn't give a damn, and at the same time, also stated that anyone who screwed with him would have the luck of getting their asses handed back to them on a silver platter.

There was a sudden thud at the door, signifying an unwanted visitor. Automatically, the boy scowled, his head turning from the million-dollar rooftop view to the specified unwanted visitor; a girl with jet-black raven hair.

What a change in scenery. A breathtaking view of the school's track-field to a literal smudge in his peripheral vision._ Nuisance_.

She wore the customary girl uniform for Karakura High, but with a white winter vest with fur linings. He snorted, rolling his eyes. Obvious rich girl.

Joy.

-X-

_The woman yawned before stamping a second time on the same piece of paper._

_It read:_

_Kuchiki Rukia:_

_Your ideal student._

_Was adopted by a super rich family._

_Can kick your ass and your friend's ass. At the same time._

-X-_  
_

His eyes followed her until she stopped and casually sat down beside him, as if they knew each other since the day they were born. She stared at the clouds of smoke he kept on breathing out, eying it with slight disgust, before entirely changing her attention towards him, finally.

"You do realize you are 20 minutes late for class." The girl began, her voice dry.

"Yup." He replied easily, smooth as silk.

"Look—" She started again, tone changing to one of determination when he sipped at the cigarette and puffed it out, entirely cutting her off. That seemed to be his objective.

The girl frowned, wondering how he put up with it. Couldn't he smell the burning stench that clouded around him, or had he gone demented from the regular intake of nicotine over the years?

"Are you aware how bitter cigarettes are?" She asked suddenly, eyes crinkling in more disgust.

"It's flavored," He reasoned, like it was enough.

"Yes, but you're smoking right in front of my face. It's rude." The girl narrowed her eyes.

"And I care?" Was his simple reply as he exhaled the smoke from his mouth, almost in a lazy-like fashion. The gray clouds drifted about, drifting and drifting until they twisted around her her face, poisoning the air she breathed.

The girl coughed, and the boy smirked.

"Asshole," She hissed, instantly grabbing the packet of cigarettes he was holding.

He gave a surprised growl. "What the hell is your problem?"

She smirked. "Not so tough without your packet of cigarettes now, are you?"

He snorted at her sentence, changing his behavior immediately and giving her a smug smile instead. "Quite the opposite, really." He drawled, and yet again directed all the smoke at her face. "Not so tough with smoke exhaust in front of your face, are you?" He countered, smirking as she made a move to wave the swirling clouds away from her face.

The girl coughed once again, the sight and smell—_especially_ the smell— of the damned cigarette becoming too much for her. She growled, and with one swift pull of her nimble fingers, she tugged the cigarette out of the boy's mouth, throwing it over her shoulders.

He blinked, before immediately scowling at what she'd done. "Oh, so you think you're so funny? Think I won't hit a girl?"

Said girl rolled her eyes in reply and leveled her gaze at him. "You want to know what I think?"

"That you have some kind of disorder in the head?"

She scoffed at his petty comeback, but ignored it and dug into her vest's pockets instead. She took out a small, colorful pack of chewing gum. "I think you're bluffing." She said, pulling out a metallic wrapper from the pack.

"Oh really?" He replied, voice testing her.

She doesn't even spare him a glance. "If you weren't bluffing, then you would've smacked me right when I first stepped in."

"Is that what you think?"

"Absolutely. And, I also think that you're a liar." She finished, eyes finally leveling to stare at him.

Her fingers unwrap the pink gum from its metallic wrapper, and when he thought that she'd bring it to her lips and eat it, his face lurches backwards when she suddenly smacked him on the nose with it instead, a totally unexpected occurrence.

His eyes fall on the gum, pictures of rabbits on its pink surface invading his vision and, for a slight second, make him question the girl's sanity. It then occurred to him that it was _Chappy the bunny_ that was on the gum, as in, the kids' TV show that his sisters liked to watch at 7 am.

"What. The. Hell." He slowly replied, once he got his mind around the idea.

"Chew it; it's better than smoking,"

"I don't _want_ your shitty gum—" He made a motion to give it back to her, though she just shoved it right back to him.

"It'll help you get rid of your bad habit."

As if he didn't know that already. The boy rolled his eyes, glaring at her. Maybe he wasn't making it too clear.

"I said _I don't fucking __want—_" He began to growl, voice irritated, only to be cut off.

"Shut up and chew, boy." She said, tone firm and final. Her eyes shone with justice.

He paused.

And maybe it was the way she looked at him, like she just saved a whole world rather than stopping a normal high-schooler smoke that made him slowly unwrap the Chappy themed bubblegum, and eat it without a single complaint.

-X-

Gym class today was mixed.

Usually, the girls were separated from the boys and the boys were separated from the girls. That was how it _usually_ went, until the boys' P.E teacher called in sick and there were no other substitutes who could volunteer to replace him in time.

So the girls' PE teacher stepped in.

They were to run a mile in 7 minutes.

"2 minutes!" The woman yelled.

The girl with jet-black, raven hair rasped tiredly.

She sped up a bit but almost tripped, making her want to stop and catch her breath in fear of tumbling down from exhaustion.

Meanwhile, the boy with the orange, spiky hair was currently leading the way with a few guys and a couple of girls. He felt no need to stop until he reached the finishing line. He did.

The girl looked on and growled, determined to finish the fitness exam in the next minute. She stopped for a while and put her hands to her hips, panting as she counted from one to ten.

"6... 7... " She shook her head, hitting the soles of her shoes against the track before jogging slowly. "8… 9…" Her legs started to speed up, "10!" And the girl seriously ran her ass down the track. As promised, she didn't stop until she reached the finish line. She did.

"50 seconds!" The coach yelled to the remaining people.

The girl walked on, her legs feeling numb and her throat burning. She clasped a hand around her neck, scratching and rubbing vigorously as if the effects would make her throat feel better, though everything there just seemed to make her feel even worse.

The boy looked back, watching the tired girl dragging her feet along the track. He allowed himself a smug smirk at her dead-like state, inwardly thinking that it was what she deserved for forcing herself into somebody's business. Though, with a mix sense of amusement and what seemed to be a fledgling speck of pity, he decided to help her out.

Meanwhile, the girl closed her eyes, sweat rolling down her face, the blazing sun shining mercilessly on her back. She dreamed of cool air conditioner, a nice glass of iced tea, and a comfortable bed, full of pillows and ice-cream right by her side… until a flick of orange on her peripheral vision made it all disappear and just… just _burn_.

"I don't have the time for this." She rasped, glaring once the boy presented himself to her.

"Get on." He demanded suddenly, kneeling down so that the girl could jump on his back.

But she didn't; instead, she furrowed her brows, eyes crinkling down at his bad-boy antics in suspicion. Her heart may or may not have just begun to involuntarily beat faster. "_What_—"

"Do you want to just walk there or die?" The boy asked, scoffing.

"But it's too—" she sniffed.

"Just shut up and hop on, girl." His lips twisted into a scowl. Feeling like she was going to pass out soon anyway, the girl grunted and complied.

As he made his way back to the gymnasium, with her pressed up against his back, the people around them stared. Not because of simple material for new, hot gossips and juicy rumors as to why this boy was carrying this girl all the way to the girl's locker room. Were they dating? Did they like each other? No, it was none of that.

It was simply because of confusion, puzzlement, _wonder_: why was this badass boy carrying a perfect, nice girl all the way to the girl's locker room?

But hey, nobody even had the guts to point it out loud.


	2. Strawberry with Rukia on top

A sigh is heard as well as a squiggle.  
The title is dreary;  
he thought she'd instantly giggle  
**TOMFOOLERY** in big black letters  
He thought she'd never come up with something better.

* * *

-X-

A spiky, orange-haired teen stared moodily as his cigar's smoke clouded parts of his shades like snow.

He was currently, involuntarily or not, waiting for the girl to burst out onto the rooftop and give him his daily dosage of Chappy-themed bubblegum, which, again, whether he wanted to admit it or not, he was becoming quite addicted to. Like biting the end of your pencil or chewing your fingernail, it became a habit.

He vaguely wondered why and _how_ he had even gotten hooked unto it in the first place, anyway. It had only been about two or three days since, but he had already gotten so used to it.

There were no emotional feelings attached, no special memory or excuse as to why he had gotten 'addicted' to the gum, for lack of a better word. Or _'used to it'_. He just did. No strings attached.

Maybe it was just the flavor? Or maybe, it had a special ingredient in it too... he wouldn't find it far-fetched if he found out that the girl had actually been drugging him all this time. She seemed like the manipulative bitch type.

He smirked, proud of his new found discoveries when the door to the rooftop creaked open. His eyes fell on the door, half-expecting it to be _the_ girl, only it lacked her signature big entrance.

He kept his gaze on the door, waiting, as the person on the other side seemed to be hesitating. Finally, when the door fully swung open and a foot stepped out, he found his suspicions to be correct.

Instead of the short midget girl, it was Arisawa Tatsuki, his childhood friend, lingering at the rooftop's entrance.

Ichigo blinked, more than a little surprised as he wondered why she had suddenly shown up, after months of barely conversing together. Or, none at all.

She waited at the doorway, standing awkwardly and drumming her fingers against the knob before stealing a glance to look at him.

Ichigo kept his gaze at her, still unable to hide his stunned face. The girl in return sighed lightly and closed her eyes, summoning enough courage to quickly cross the distance between them.

She plopped down a couple of feet from him, and at first, the two of them just sort of stared ahead: awkward, uncomfortable, unknowing what to say to each other.

His other friends had started avoiding him when he started smoking, long ago. Before they had started their junior year, even.

He recalled the incident clearly, as to how it began, and it made him a little angry still. It began with good-natured teasing first... though the jokes were only meant to be humorous and playful, it still stung a bit and seemed personal.

He never took himself to be really sensitive, but one day, the laughter and jokes got too far, and he had deemed all of his friendships with them as fake . After all, why say something as a joke when it was really what they thought, anyway? It was better if they just said it straight with no bullshit joking.

Then, they started asking too many questions. He remembered having an intense argument with Tatsuki; it had almost even leaded up to a fight if the others hadn't held them back from clawing each other out.

When she had learned that he had started smoking, she had gotten instantly upset and started yelling at him, accidentally making a one-sided comment about how his mother would've been upset and disappointed too. At that moment, he had instantly snapped and screamed at her right back.

As years passed by, however, he learned that all of it were mostly caused by him over-reacting and being too personal whenever it concerned his private life. He didn't even tell them that he had begun to smoke, and figured that they had probably felt betrayed and disappointed when they had found out about it instead.

He was too young when it happened, too brisk and rash and didn't know how to deal with their probing questions without getting angry. It was too soon, too.

It was too soon when they started relating with him, assuming that they knew what had happened and that they knew what he was feeling when they knew _shit. _That part really got to him. That was probably why...

"So, you still smoke, huh?" Tatsuki asked after a while of uncomfortable silence, soft but firm voice interjecting through his thoughts. She drew her legs up to her chest before suddenly straightening them back down in front of her, restless.

Ichigo looked at her through the corners of his eyes, gray smoke puffing out of his lips. _What do you think?_ He wanted to roll his eyes, though merely let out a half-hearted, "Uh-huh."

She made another move to give her green sweater a tug, obviously disappointed at his rather short comment. It felt like talking to a brick wall.

"So…" She started again, and he noticed the slight hesitance still in her voice. "What's up?"

"Nothing much." He breathed, drawing the cigarette to his lips once more.

"Nothing much?" She laughed suddenly, repeating his words with a hint of amazement that had Ichigo turning his head towards her in surprise.

"Man, where have you been? Almost every junior thinks bad ass Ichigo has a girlfriend." She explained. A sly grin broke out of her face. "And while on that subject, do you?"

He gave her a startled look, before a snarl quickly tore out of his lips. "Hell—"

The door to the rooftop immediately slammed open. Both teens turned towards the sound.

A small girl with jet-black raven hair and amethyst eyes stood by the doorway, her tiny hands still holding the door knob.

Ichigo scowled at the innocent girl, as if she had already done something he didn't like when she hadn't even taken a step from the doorway yet.

He had no doubt that the rumor of him having a girlfriend was because of her—because, because she had somehow manipulated him back then at PE, three days ago. It must've been reverse-psychology.

The more he stared, though, the more he couldn't help noticing that she was wearing a different jacket than before. He didn't like this jacket, he liked the other one better—the white one, the white vest with the fur linings because it suited her appearance more, contrasting nicely with her dark hair—

Ichigo had immediately stopped, eyebrows scrunching. _What the fuck...?_

"Oh, sorry, am I interrupting something?" Rukia asked suddenly, her smile sweet and sugar-coated. He either noticed—the boy immediately slapped his forehead— that she was either just polite to girls or that she was merely acting... or maybe both.

Tatsuki stood up at her sudden presence with a vaguely tense grin, as if she had just been thrown off. "Oh, uh, no! I—he—we were just talking." She muttered, slightly embarrassed, before sitting back down again.

Rukia nodded at this, still smiling, when her gaze suddenly met his. Amethyst eyes locked with amber, and she immediately threw a frown his way.

_What the hell did I do now? _Ichigo scowled.

Tatsuki saw the girl, even though she was small—smaller than she was and a_ hell of _a lot smaller than Ichigo, immediately cross the roof with a sort of authority in her walk, like she was this strong, powerful woman, when she just looked like a mere porcelain doll that you could break so easily.

She halted in front of Ichigo, catching both people's full attentions. Tatsuki's eyes instantly widened when she grabbed the cigarette from the delinquent's mouth like it was second-nature, and stomped on it without even giving a second thought.

Tatsuki quickly looked at her childhood friend, about to tell him that he shouldn't hit women because it was wrong and immoral and _just look at her! _She's practically defenseless! Though he made no move when Tatsuki stared at him, or even when Rukia snatched the packet of cigars from his hand, twisted back and threw it over the edge of the rooftop.

He must've been pissed off as _fuck_. Maybe he was so furious, he couldn't even form the words to express his anger.

Ichigo stared at the girl in front of him, eyes narrowing almost surreptitiously.

Tatsuki thought that this was it for the small girl. She made a move to stand up, hopefully to stop him from doing whatever violent thing he thought of doing, when his mouth merely opened, lips twisting into a scowl.

"What the hell was that for, you midget?"

The tomboy blinked.

_He... held himself back for her?_

A vein immediately popped on Rukia's head as she glared at him, hand digging around inside the front pockets of her coat.

"I am not a midget, carrot top." She retorted after successfully retrieving what it was she had been looking for. A piece of Chappy-themed bubblegum, Tatsuki noted with slight wonder, before her eyes immediately widened when the small girl had smacked Ichigo on the nose with it.

Tatsuki let out an accidental snicker at the action despite herself, and then quickly clapped her mouth shut. She remembered the days she used to call him 'carrot top' too, and when she'd kid around with him.

Rukia crossed her arms, frowning furtively at Ichigo for giving Tatsuki a slight glare for her laugh.

"Idiot." The small girl huffed, voice loud and painfully blunt that Tatsuki snickered again, completely forgetting the delinquent's threatening glare.

The boy in return just growled as he turned back around and faced Rukia, snatching the bubblegum from her hand none-too-gently and popping it into his mouth. He chewed, then gave an immediate pause, eyebrows scrunching slightly at the small girl's face.

"This doesn't taste right." He said suspiciously.

Rukia arched a brow at him. "You noticed? I got the different kind of Chappy gum since the store didn't have anymore of the ones I give you."

Tatsuki's face contorted into a puzzled look. "You mean those expensive ones?" She pointed out, and Ichigo stared at the smaller girl, expression slightly curious too.

Rukia's cheeks reddened, blinking. "Oh... are they?" She laughed, and the boy could instantly tell that it was fake. He didn't know exactly _why _he could, it wasn't as if he wanted to, though he had to give it to her— it did sound impressively casual. "No wonder I don't have any money left!" She laughed again.

Ichigo smirked and pointed out that she was lying, to which Rukia had immediately growled, an argument between the two instantly breaking out.

Tatsuki blinked, beginning to wonder if they kept meeting like this during the past few days. She quickly shook her head, and told herself that she didn't care, _I'm just doing this for Orihime…_

An anguish scream shot through the air then, snapping the tomboy out of her thoughts. She glanced back at the two, taking in the fact that both their aggravated looks seemed almost permanent.

"They. Are. AMETHYST!"

"Don't try to make yourself special, midget. They're just purple." He countered, smacking his lips together so that his chewing became annoying.

The two had somehow ended up with a stupid, off-topic argument. Tatsuki wanted to sweat-drop.

Rukia checked her silver thin wristwatch then and frowned further, if it were possible. "I have to go now," She announced, voice becoming less childish and more mature, as if her silly argument with the boy had never happened.

The small girl stood up and gave a slight bow towards Tatsuki. "Sorry for interrupting your talk, please continue."

"Actually," Ichigo cut off, deep voice interjecting Tatsuki's as his face returned to the cold, blank expression from before. "Tatsuki was about to leave."

Said girl blinked, surprised that he had managed to read her thoughts. Was it that obvious? Did he see through her act, that she had in fact wanted to go soon and that she felt uncomfortable? Tatsuki chewed on her lip, a bit disappointed in him for calling her out, even if what he had said was true.

"Yeah. Um, right." She said slowly, smile vague and a bit stiff as she stood up, walking towards the door. She didn't wait for Rukia to come downstairs, stepping through the doorway and shutting it with a loud slam.

Rukia glanced back at Ichigo, giving him a fierce glare which only a girl could give.

"What?" He said, voice irritated and anxious.

"You're an asshole." She muttered bitterly, forgetting about her previous need to leave too as she sat beside him instead, drawing her knees against her chest and propping her hands gently on top. "Clearly, your friend wanted to talk to you more."

He shrugged. "She's obviously uncomfortable with me. And so am I around her."

Rukia smacked him a little, and some months ago, he would've smirked at the friendly gesture, though he just ended up scowling in return. It was almost a habit.

"Idiot, it doesn't mean you can't change that."

Ichigo stood up suddenly, wanting to go somewhere else and avoid this quickly transpiring awkward conversation. It just wasn't his style to talk about these things.

"I'm fine with the way things are, midget." He scoffed, about to walk away, but when he looked back at her, her face appeared as though an imaginary light bulb had just appeared over her head.

Ichigo would've rather died than admit it, but he didn't hate the way she looked with her face like that.

"Aha!" Rukia instantly grinned, balling her hand and hitting it against her open palm. She stood up along with him, walking over to his his side and suddenly linking her arms with his.

"Come with me." She said as she dragged him towards the rooftop's door, amethyst eyes shining with the same look she had given him when they first met.

He really couldn't say no or protest against that drowning stare. It was almost indisputable, absolute. Like some kind of advantage that she had over him.

"As if I have any choice." He muttered, glaring unconsciously Rukia's back.

* * *

They quickly went down the stairs, feet moving so fast as they flashed down step after step. Ichigo had to look down so that he wouldn't accidentally crash unto her and send them both careening down the adjacent staircases.

"Hey, girl, we're we going?" He said, slightly distracted.

She ignored him, opening a door that lead to the rest of the school before sharply running down through the empty corridors, pulling at his arm even more.

When he almost stumbled, a growl quickly tore out of his lips, looking up and glaring daggers at the small girl's head.

"Slow down, damn it!"

Rukia merely scoffed. ""Shut up, boy! Quit complaining. We're almost there!" They went down yet another set of staircases, and Ichigo had to curse.

"Since when the hell did this school have so many fucking stairs?" He said, disbelieving, before Rukia pulled at his arm again and lead him unto another hallway.

"We're here!" Her voice rang melodiously, sounding like she was pleased with herself. She turned towards the delinquent, watching his expression with a grin.

"So we are." He merely replied, scowling as he stared at a pair of double-doors that read: CAFETERIA.

The small girl's grin quickly broke. She frowned, crossing her arms and snorting at the boy's gloomy response. "Don't act like that, dumb-ass. It's time that you finally got yourself out of that emo box you call your social life."

"I'm not emo." He growled.

"So you say you aren't."

"Don't get smart with me, bitch. I can break your neck, you know?"

She smirked. "Then why don't you?" Quickly cutting him before he could say anything further, she spoke again. "Anyway, you are to go in that cafeteria and befriend your friends, and while you're at it, why don't you go and make some new friends too? Hang out or something."

"_What_?" He hissed incredulously, stunned.

Rukia's smirk merely widened. "You heard me."

Ichigo stared at the small girl in front of him. He scoffed at her suddenly, brows pulling in together. "Quit acting like my mother." He said, slightly irritated, before he felt himself stiffen at his own words, realization hitting him square in the face.

For a split second, his amber eyes grew wide, breath shortening. He glanced back at her to see if her face had changed, to see if she'd start looking apologetic and try and empathize with him, though she still had that smirk, only staring at him as if she had just beat him on a game or something. She hadn't heard what he'd just said.

"Oy, carrot top, you okay?" Rukia's eyes crinkled down, her head absently tilting a little. "Something bothering you?"

Ichigo took a deep breath. _It's okay. Everything's cool_. He stared at her, more firmly this time. "I don't see why I need to go there." He said calmly, changing the subject.

"Because!" She frowned, and deliberately ignored the look that he had a few seconds ago, choosing not to ask any questions. He seemed like he really didn't want to talk about it yet. So instead, she placed both of her hands against his back, trying to push his body into the cafeteria.

"You need to talk to your friends and solve your social problems between each other." She explained, grunting a bit as she tried and put more of her strength into her push, only to no success. It seemed futile.

"What if I don't want to?" He interjected, feet planted firmly on the ground, unyielding.

Rukia gave a roll of her eyes. "You do."

"What if I don't want—"

"You do."

"What if—"

"You. Do!" She growled loudly, and through some form of sheer willpower and a miracle, the small girl was somehow able to finally shove his large, heavy body into the cafeteria doors.

The double doors swung open, Rukia fled, and Ichigo almost tripped on a carelessly thrown banana peel. He made a mental note to haunt the bastard down who left it there later.

Everybody had stopped whatever they were doing when Ichigo walked—_stumbled_, actually—into the cafeteria jungle.

"Tatsuki..." Chizuru started, eyes wide. "I thought you talked to him earlier." She hissed softly into the other girl's ear as everything, even the air, seemed deathly still.

"I did." She hissed back.

"So what is he doing here?" The eyeglasses-wearing girl questioned once more.

"I don't know." The tomboy answered, just as stunned and a bit frustrated.

It was because almost everybody who knew Ichigo was afraid of him. All the first-years. Most of the second-years. And a fair amount of the third-years.

But they weren't only afraid of the amber-eyed boy; in fact, there were many of them:

* * *

A woman sat on a rolling chair aggressively.

She took out several sheets of paper and stamped on it.

It read in fine black ink:

* * *

**Yasutora Sado or 'Chad':**

**A really nice guy.**

**Looks scary.**

**Can grow up to be superman.**

* * *

**Grimmjow:**

**Real name is unknown.**

**Curses like his life depended on it.**

**Has an anger management problem.**

* * *

**Abarai Renji:**

**Nobody knows if his tattoos are real… or stickers.**

**Actually grew his hair to be longer than most Karakura high school girls.**

**Looks like a criminal, but has a soft side.**

* * *

**Ulquiorra:**

**Unknown.**

**Unknown.**

**Unknown.**

* * *

Of course, there were more, but these students were mainly the ones who people steered clear of.

Although it was an unspoken rule, every delinquent had a specific location where they usually hung out.

They must never go to other delinquents' locations, join other delinquent students, or go to the cafeteria, unless they wanted some sort of fight to break out.

It was like law, even though they had never agreed to it. They seemed to like the idea, not because the other students wanted them to, but for the entire intent and purpose of being left alone.

But now, here waltzed in the local orange-headed punk as if he owned the place—and perhaps he even did, since nobody really had the guts to go and stand up to him. Not even his fellow delinquents. Not even the goths, the freaks, the skaters, the jocks, and so on and so on.

Ichigo scowled, brushing the stumble off as if it never happened. He wanted to chase after that stupid little midget so bad, for making him do something as embarrassing as almost having tripped in front of the entire school.

He let it go though, when he took a tray and strode to the line, where people immediately let him cut over all the way to the front, implying that maybe they forgot about the little incident too.

The students stared as Ichigo faced the new lunch lady. Poor clueless woman.

The lady merely looked at him, blissfully unaware of her surroundings. "What do you want?"

Ichigo paused, eyebrows crinkling as he looked at her like she was stupid. "What do you think I want?" He asked, voice repulsed at the idea of how people today were getting dumber and dumber by the second.

The question was so simple that all she had to do was look down in front of her. It was fucking pizza day. It wasn't like the student population had a menu to choose from or something.

She paused, giving him a look. "What was that?"

He heaved a sigh, scowling irritably. "Look down and tell me what you see." The boy tested, and sure enough, the woman was actually stupid enough to meet her shame.

"I see… pizza, ketchup, and fries." She looked back up at him, face pinched. "What about it?"

Ichigo bit back a snap at the aggravating expression she gave him, and instead chewed his gum harder in order to relieve him of all the violent messages his brain was giving.

"What else do you see?" He asked shortly.

The lunch lady stared at him, almost exasperated. "Nothing."

"Exactly." Ichigo bit, voice sharp and concise. "So before you give me that looks and bitch your new hired ass around like you've been here for years, right in front of you is a student whose been going here all his life." Totally pissed off, he at least tried to keep his voice impassive, like a lieutenant speaking to an idiotic soldier.

The lunch lady's cheeks heated up, more than slightly embarrassment, and she growled, almost shoving the pizza unto his tray, clearly taking offense.

Ichigo scowled at the action, merely giving her a dry stare before paying for his food and walking out. "Where the hell is the usual lunch lady?" He grumbled loudly, uncaring whether she heard it or not.

As the boy strode back out of the line, he somehow knew that the cafeteria occupants were now scared than him more than ever.

And dammit, he just wanted to eat and get the hell out of this place as soon as he can. And maybe chase down after the midget and give her a wedgie or something.

True, that the lady was new and naive, but she was only doing her job. Ichigo had snapped at her like she added toenail clippings and hair unto his lunch when she had just asked him what he wanted to eat.

But the thing was, he really didn't like stupid people acting like they were some kind of a smart-ass. Doing that only made them look even more stupid, so why did they keep on doing it?

He didn't appreciate the look she constantly gave him, either, like he was wasting her time or something. She looked down on him just because he was some kind of teenage punk, and he didn't like that.

The boy drew a chair from a table and hastily sat down. He picked his pizza up, bringing it to his mouth and taking a huge bite as he leaned towards the table, propping his elbow up and resting the side of his face on his knuckles.

Brown eyes stared at all the faces that looked at him. Some kids wore a frightened look; when he glanced to stare at them fully, they quickly turned back. Some had clapped at how he just told off the poor lunch lady. Keigo and Mizuiro had started to snicker, and some shuddered at—

Wait, _what?_

His head in all its orange glory snapped at his two, old friends.

"What…" His blinked, eyebrows crinkling down in confusion as they gave him a light wave across the cafeteria.

"Yo, Ichigo." Keigo greeted with a small grin. Mizuiro smiled, though said nothing.

"You quit smoking now?" The brunet suddenly asked.

Ichigo stared at him blankly, more than a little surprised. He thought they were still afraid of him... A smirk slowly crawled unto his face, though, and he ignored just how dumbstruck and slightly uneasy he felt at the way they were talking so casually right now. As if there never had been a rift between them in the past. It wasn't a wholly bad feeling—actually, it felt kind of... pleasant.

"You could say that." He said after a short while, answering the brunet's question.

"What?" Keigo asked, shooting him a puzzled look.

"Are you deaf—" Mizuiro was cut off.

"I said," Ichigo yelled loudly. Who would've thought that the little midget was right about the whole friendship thing? "That who could afford cigarettes when you have to buy fucking Chappy themed bubble-gums everyday!"

Keigo grinned wider, realization dawning on him when Ichigo's mouth smacked louder with the gum he chewed. "Ohhhh!"

"So does that mean you're trying to quit?" Mizuiro repeated the same question again.

"I was forced to!" Ichigo yelled once more through the bustling racket of the cafeteria.

It had been deathly still a while ago, but now all of a sudden, as if it was the exact thing needed to break the awkward tension inside the cafeteria— the moment Ichigo had reacquainted with his friends, everybody had come to slightly accept the fact that the delinquent was in fact sitting there, and would do no harm, even though he could, with the looks and capabilities to beat anybody into a bloody pulp who dared question his authority.

Orihime's face brightened at the exchange, smiling widely as she bravely popped up and joined the conversation too. "By whom, Kurosaki-kun?"

The boy gave a sigh. "Just somebody who's acting like my mother."

Everybody immediately stopped at his words, realizing that Ichigo had just mentioned _it_, though he merely gave a lopsided grin.

* * *

Ichigo had searched around the whole school for where the girl was now—yeah, so he skipped his own classes, so what?

You'd say that he was overly determined, looking around the whole fucking Karakura high school for just one girl. But, he just needed to say something to her, and fast, or else he wouldn't care about it anymore later.

He went to the literature department, and banged on a random class door.

A short, wide-eyed boy who looked like a freshman came and answered the door, eyes popping out even more when he came face to face with—well, he had to look up, with Ichigo.

"Y—yes?" He stuttered out, slightly intimidated.

"Is a girl about this tall—" Ichigo lifted his foot several inches from the ground, before pointing at it. "—with jet-black hair and really big, violet eyes here?"

"U-um…" The boy paused.

"Well?" Ichigo gritted his teeth. He felt awkward just being there, standing out in the middle of the hallway with his hands stuffed into his pockets, actually having cut his class and missed the opportunity to skip just to ask after a girl. He must've really looked like some dope, love-sick fool. Or a stalker. Yeah, definitely.

"I—I'm sorry," The boy said, eyebrows crinkling in puzzlement. "I don't know who you're talking about."

Ichigo growled and shoved his hands out of his pockets, banging it on the classroom's door. "Fuck it!" He cursed, clenching and unclenching his fists in irritation. "This is like the 20th door I asked..."

The boy quivered in fear at the spontaneous act of violence, staring with a gaping mouth up at the delinquent. "I-I'm sorry!" He yelped, quickly bowing his head and apologizing, surprising Ichigo. "P-please don't stuff me in a locker or something!"

Ichigo's eyes widened as the boy continuously kept bowing at him. He panicked, "Oh, no, no. I didn't aim that at you, I was just—"

"Hanataro!" A female voice suddenly interjected inside the classroom. It sounded suspiciously familiar. "What're you doing over there?"

The boy named Hanataro was then gently pulled aside as Rukia took his place in the doorway, only to meet Ichigo's chest. Her eyes immediately narrowed up at him. "Are you bullying people?" She asked furiously, stabbing her finger at his chest.

Ichigo blinked, being caught off guard at actually finding who he was looking for, though instead of leaping up for joy—like he'd do that anytime soon, he'd rather have an arm cut off—a scowl had automatically graced his features at her accusation. "_What _? Of course not!"

"Then why was he cringing? If you hit him—" She snarled.

He almost looked offended at this. "If I hit him, he'd have flown towards the other side of the room."

Rukia immediately rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms, snorting. ""Stop acting like a tough guy, idiot."

"But I am a tough guy." He scowled, before suddenly giving her a smirk. "Midget girls like you shouldn't keep talking down to guys like me."

The small girl frowned, and instantly hit him none-too-gently on the ribs. "Shut up, if you just came here to insult me, then—"

Ichigo grabbed her wrist suddenly as he scratched the side of his head with his free hand. He stared down at her, tried to smile, failed, and then he immediately sighed, giving up on trying to appear so compassionate and sentiment, just wanting to get it over with quickly.

"Listen, about what you said." He started, sounding a bit hesitant.

Rukia looked at him, face suspicious. "And what did I say?"

"About the whole friendship thing." He grunted.

A smirk instantly made its way to her face. "How'd it go?"

Ichigo scowled, though it was short-lived as his lips mirrored her smirk too. "Unfortunately, it went... better than I expected."

"Good." She said, and snatched her hand from his grip, giving him a dry stare. "So what now? You here to hug me or something?"

"Shut up." He scowled, the smirk having lasted for only about 3 seconds. "I'm trying to say something here, okay?" Ichigo paused and took a deep sigh. _Here goes heaven and hell_. He thought glumly.

"Than—tha—thank," His scowl deepened, brow furrowing as he tried to spit out the incomprehensible word.

"What?" The girl's eyes shone with amusement.

"Tha—"

"What?"

"Than—"

"_What?"_

"THANK YOU!" He yelled out in anger, surprising Rukia and everyone inside the classroom. Ichigo's cheeks flushed in embarrassment, and he gritted his teeth. "Thank you for the _unnecessary_ damned talk, okay? There. I said it."

Rukia frowned at him. "You could've tried to make it sound pleasant. And you're not welcome."

"Whatever." He grunted. The delinquent turned around then, ready to leave and hightail it the hell out of there when the small girl had suddenly grabbed the back of his shirt, stopping him before he could even take a step away.

"What now? You're heard your thank you, midget." He scowled.

She rolled her eyes. "Hold on, hotshot. We don't even know each other's name yet."

He paused, blinking as he turned back around and face her, pulling her tiny fingers away from his shirt. "Oh." Ichigo said, and then merely looked at her hand like it was contaminated when she extended it to him.

"Introduce yourself, fool!" The small girl laughed a little.

His scowl deepened, though he nevertheless took her hand. "Kurosaki Ichigo—"

"As in strawberry?" She laughed again.

"Let me finish," He glared at her.

"How's the weather up there, strawberry?"

"It means he who protects, not _strawberry_. And don't you forget it, girl."

"It's not _girl_, dumb-ass. My name is Kuchiki Rukia." Rukia paused then, lips quirking upwards in a mischievous smile as she was reminded of another misunderstanding. "And for the last time, my eyes _are_ amethyst."

"Don't make yourself special, _Rukia._"

"Shut up, _Ichigo_."

He grinned in response. Funny how their hands fit so damn well.

* * *

**Dr Silo**: Yeah, funny how a guy can run so fast when they're smoking. But then again, it's Ichigo. He has orange hair. Nevermind, that doesn't even make sense. (x

A/N: Edited.


	3. I don't see your name on it

He was **TOMFOOLERING** her  
He was aggravating her  
Because  
He adored her  
He appreciated her  
Even if he doesn't know  
His feeling about her.

* * *

-X-

A week later, and the all too familiar Kuchiki Rukia made her way across the student parking lot, where a mister Grimmjow Jeagerjaques was currently loitering.

She found out about him when the Student Newspaper staff talked to her. They were just _dying_ to do a report about all the delinquents, as that was what their school was known for, and when they found out that Kurosaki Ichigo was something of a friend to her, they had instantly came running down into her homeroom class like a pack of wild animals.

Of course, Ichigo had also shown up and kicked their asses out of there.

But then, much to the boy's dismay, Rukia had volunteered to do the report about the juvenile students despite his efforts, and then proceeded to pester—or as she might've called it, _interview_ him.

He just scowled and walked away. The small girl in return had frowned at his being uncooperative, though she didn't dwell on that little setback for too long, soon deciding to just start on him later and move on to the next interviewee: a boy known as Grimmjow Jeagerjacques..

She found out about Grimmjow after doing some student research. Most of the people she asked had merely run away at his name, or told her to just let the subject go; though, when she discovered that he was in fact one of Ichigo's kinds, a smile had instinctively formed on her lips.

Rukia approached the boy cautiously, peering at his face. He had his eyes closed, appearing asleep, arms crossed and his back pressed up against the graffitied wall.

The small girl snorted at his position. "Why would you sleep while standing up?"

His eyes blinked open at her voice, revealing intense azure eyes, which was a bit of a shock to her, since she was pretty sure that she had muttered under her breath. He must've really had a sharp sense of hearing.

Grimmjow stared at the small girl in front of him in slight disbelief and confusion, before he quickly took in her appearance and growled in distaste. Fuck. Another rich school-girl. "What do you want?" He growled, azure eyes glaring at violet.

"Just a little of your time." Rukia answered, giving a sly smile.

"Well fuck off. This is my area. "

Rukia scrunched her nose at this. Why was it that every delinquent she approached always said this to her? That some school property was _their_ area, and they didn't like it whenever somebody threaded through _their_ area without _their _permission? It was public property, for Pete's sake! They didn't—_couldn't_ literally own it. Even Ichigo had said something like that to her when they first met. That the school rooftop was his area. Psh.

"I don't see your name in here." The small girl shot back a little childishly, just to prove her differing opinion.

The boy merely sneered at her and stepped back from the wall, revealing a large graffiti that spelled somebody's name. It spelled G-R-I-M-M-J-O-W in deep blue paint.

Rukia stared at the strange name. So that was how you spelled it. She clicked her tongue then, when he had addressed her with a smug grin. "There. You fucking satisfied? Now get lost." The grin vanished almost immediately at his last word, replaced by a snarl.

The small girl merely sniffed. "Do that to _every_ wall here, and yeah, I might leave."

Grimmjow ground his teeth, and in a flash of anger, had kicked a can of spray paint all across the parking lot. He turned back towards the small girl, growling. "Smart-ass bitch."

Rukia's eyes had instantly widened when the can of spray-paint darted past her, the force that sent the can flying creating a light breeze that made her skirt flap. She looked towards it to see that the can had burst in an explosion of blue paint.

Eyes still wide and relatively amused, she turned back to him, brows raised. "So, you have anger issues, huh?"

"Bullshit." He snarled, until Rukia had shoved her notepad into his hands.

Grimmjow gave her a scathing stare. "What the hell am I supposed to do with this?"

"Scrunch it up into a ball." Was her simple reply.

"Why the fuck—" He began to mutter, then cut himself off and growled under his breath when he registered her smug expression. "Think you're so fucking smug, huh?" Grimmjow said derisively, and resumed to quickly scrunch the notepad into a ball.

It was rather hard to scrunch the thick notepad into a ball, leaving red marks trailing across his palms and paper-cuts. It was almost impossible to do it, in fact… though somehow, the hotheaded Grimmjow had done it.

The shape was a little haphazard, almost like he did it in a slapdash fashion because, well—_he did_. But the form was unmistakably that of a ball, even from a faraway distance. He threw it to her after he was done.

"Well, you showed me." Rukia muttered as she caught it, smirking slightly. "Do you feel better now?" She cooed, tone so deliberately patronizing that it hurt.

"So you just marched up to my face and annoyed the hell out of me because of that?" He repeated, eyes wide and incredulous.

His expression then immediately changed at that realization, brows quickly furrowing as he growled at her threateningly. "Bitch! Mind your own damn business!"

"But you can't say it didn't work." The small girl pointed out, a coy smile gracing her features. "Did that get rid of your animosity?"

"I don't know," Grimmjow snarled, tone malicious. "Step a little closer and we'll see."

"Ahh. Look, you're even warning me now! Wasn't that easy?" Rukia said, voice sickeningly sweet.

"Wasn't that easy?" He mocked her in a high-pitched tone.

* * *

All was good. Ichigo finally befriended his friends. He finally learned the midget's name. And he finally stopped smoking—well, sometimes. Try as he might, he just couldn't do it cold turkey. He still found himself lighting a cigarette in his room at night, unable to drop old habits, or when he felt especially aggravated.

He just couldn't kick the nicotine out of his system yet. It was almost as though his body _didn't want _him to quit. Like it didn't care about the consequences it did to him, as long as it got what it wanted. It was almost as if his brain was the only one who was with him, his body betraying him by craving the drug more and more.

Ichigo had to admit though that the craving _was_ lightening up a bit ever since he met the midget. But lately, the Chappy gum was making his jaw hurt, and sometimes it was becoming too plain—

The rooftop door suddenly creaked open, snapping Ichigo out of his thoughts.

His head turned to see Rukia smiling at him—which he found a little suspicious, since she _never_ smiled at him without there being some kind of catch—and then, as if fate wanted to confirm his guess, he saw another boy that lumbered in after her, looking cross and extremely unenthusiastic.

Blue hair, blue eyes, and a maddened snarl fixed on his face… Grimmjow was the only name that Ichigo could identify in his mind that suited this asshole's appearance.

They had gotten into a fight once, the fight of the year that had kept everyone talking about it for days, even after several weeks had already passed since it happened. And it happened just because _this lunatic_ wanted to fight him for no particular reason at all, because of some shit about him being, as the jackass had said "—the only one who looks like a good opponent, even with your fruity name."

Surprisingly, Ichigo had won that brutal fight. But it was bloody and gory, and after he threw a heavy punch at the bastard's' stomach, finally—as in fucking _finally_ knocking him out, he had also fainted after just mere moments of victory. Needless to say, they both got carried off into the hospital and almost received an expulsion.

His muscles still ached just thinking about it, though that didn't mean that he wouldn't hesitate and do it all over again. It probably went the same for the blue-haired boy, justified by the sudden grin that had instantly flashed into his face.

Ichigo's scowl deepened when their eyes met. "What the hell are you doing here?" Blue eyes stared back at angry brown ones, flickering into amber.

"I just felt like it." Was the blue-haired boy's simple response, a taunting grin already splayed out across his features.

Ichigo growled at the nonchalant reply, knowing better of the jackass' hidden intentions, but he furtively* dismissed it in place of giving a taunting* smirk as well. "Want me to kick your ass again and see if you want to come here more often?" Ichigo had drawled, voice provoking as he glared daggers into blue irises.

The two boys had been so busy glaring at each other and giving threatening looks that they began to forget that there was a third party in their vicinity. Ichigo especially was more than immediately surprised when he was suddenly hit on the nose with some sort of _flappy shit—_

Grimmjow broke out into a wild, insulting laugh at the gesture, while Rukia proceeded to forcefully shove the gum in his throat. Ichigo choked, almost swallowing the damnable gum.

"What the HELL!" The boy glowered assertively*, though he restrained himself from standing up in his sitting position. Yes, he was mad—_no_, pissed off even, but he didn't dare hit her—well, maybe if he was so fucking pissed off then he'd hit her. But he _was_ pissed of right now, so why wasn't he just allowed to hit her tiny head? Ah, shit, whatever…

"Chew, strawberry, chew!" Rukia demanded*, a furious* look on her face. Ichigo merely smirked, as it didn't really serve to make her look intimidating. Actually, it was quite the opposite…

He muffled* a smirk. "Sorry, I don't take orders from a midget."

"Would the strawberry take orders from my fist then?" The girl said threateningly*, curling her tiny fingers into a tight ball. Ichigo scowled at her, chewed as she had ordered, and then blew a bubble in her face and popped it.

"Grow an inch or two taller, and maybe I'll reconsider." He declared, scowl turning shortly into a smirk. Rukia gave him a slightly peeved stare, before merely sighing at his childish responses. She pulled her arms out of their crossed positions and assumed to drag Grimmjow towards her place, just a few steps in front of Ichigo.

"Ichigo, this is Grimmjow. Grimmjow, Ichigo." She announced, respectively looking at the two boys as she introduced them. Both boys scowled.

"We know each other." They chorused, Grimmjow leaning further into the wall next to him. A vein popped in Ichigo's forehead.

"Hey, hey, don't lean on MY wall."

"I don't see your name on it." Grimmjow muttered, then produced a sneer as he turned slightly towards Rukia and deliberately mocked what she had said to him earlier that morning. She, in return, only smiled innocently.

"Would you like to see a stick shoved up your ass too?" Ichigo bit.

"Sorry strawberry, I don't swing that way."

"Fucking _jackass—_"

Rukia watched in silent amusement as the two boys bickered and growled at each other. Tapping her chin thoughtfully and holding her elbow, the jet-black haired girl suddenly decided to make these two arguing souls the best of buds.

Starting now.

"Ichigo, this is Grimmjow. Grimmjow, Ichigo." She repeated, forcing the two to halt in their altercation and look at her oddly.

"I already know this pansy." Grimmjow huffed, voice blunt and insensitive. Ichigo glowered up at him, baring his teeth.

"Burn in hell, Eyeshadow."

"Really?" Rukia intercepted, masking over Ichigo's retort, which made the boy brood and glower even more. "Why not shake hands, then?"

The two had paused the second the syllables left her lips, and almost immediately, they had both gone into convulsions, bursting into laughter.

"I'm just trying to make you two introduce yourselves without killing each other!" The girl snarled, losing her conniving and cryptic attitude. "Is that so damn hard?" She muttered under her breath, crossing her arms and huffing briefly.

"Your chick's fucking delusional, strawberry." Grimmjow said, eying the still sulking Rukia with a droll expression.

Ichigo snorted almost instantaneously. "Shut up, eye shadow. She's not mine." Ichigo growled out.

"I see, so the idiots have finally stopped arguing, and are now talking like gentlemen. That's a first." She broke through their conversation, an arrogant smirk once again plastered on her face.

Ichigo diverted his eyes from Grimmjow to Rukia, scowling as he regarded her. "What the hell's going on with you?"

The amethyst-eyed girl merely gave another huff and closed her eyes in annoyance, as if she couldn't believe that they couldn't understand her brilliant logic. "What does it look like? I'm trying to make the two of you get along."

"The fuck? _Why?_"

"Because this is going to be our meeting place." The girl answered tersely, huge eyes snapping wide open. "Grimmjow is going to start coming here, you two are going to start being friends, and you. Are. Going. To. Like. It." She hissed, emphasizing at each word.

There was a beat of silence as the girl finished speaking. Grimmjow broke it.

"So fucking delusional." He simply repeated, clicking his teeth and earning a grunt of agreement from Ichigo, face a mix of annoyance and bemusement. After another second of awkward silence passed by, however, Ichigo finally sighed and stood up, reluctantly extending his arm to Grimmjow as if he was about to slip it inside a barrel of snapping turtles. Grimmjow merely stared at it.

"You're supposed to shake my hand, dumbass." Ichigo scowled, embarrassed and therefore easily irritable.

"The fuck? Why should I shake your hand? It probably smells like fruits or some other girly shit. I don't want that on me."

It took all of Ichigo's self-restraint to not just fuck common civility and punch Grimmjow right between the eyes.

Taking a slow, deep breath, Ichigo jutted a finger to Rukia, who was looking at them. It was the same look she gave when they were running down the stairs— when they first met each other. Like she just saved the whole world, rather than forced two students to shake their hands.

Grimmjow stared, before immediately turning his attention to Ichigo with an unimpressed face. "So what?"

Ichigo growled, fucked common civility, and punched the blue-haired boy in the face.

It only took a second for the other boy to get over the shock. Immediately recovering, Grimmjow snarled. "I'm gonna fucking kick your ass!"

* * *

Two days later, and the door to the rooftop burst open, revealing a seething boy with blue hair and glinting eyes.

Ichigo abruptly cursed, already exasperated.

"It's no use trying to hide from me, carrot-top. I'm gonna rip out your guts and fucking _feed_ them to your girlfriend—"

"She's not my girlfriend, dammit!"

"Aha!"

"_Shit!_" Ichigo swore, and at once ducked when he barely saw a fist coming his way. "What the hell, jackass!"

"Don't what the hell me! I already said, I'm gonna kick your ass."

Taking advantage of the blue-haired boy's gloating, Ichigo immediately thrust his foot forward, pulling Grimmjow underneath his legs and sending the boy crashing down onto the ground as well. He jumped up on his feet and let out a bitter cackle.

"Who's kicking whose ass now? REVENGE, YOU EYESHADOW BASTARD!"

Grimmjow grinned at the sudden show of enthusiasm from his opponent. He quickly pulled himself up, ready to lunge at the bastard when—

"No! Stop it!"

A feminine voice demanded. It was far too soft and gentle-sounding to be Rukia, Ichigo quickly surmised, since the midget's voice was too low and aggressive to be really considered feminine. He then erased this thought when a bulky and hairy man with her face popped up inside his brain.

The two boys diverted their attention, turning to see a girl with green hair. She wore the customary Karakura uniform, though with a white pea-body and a deep red scarf that contrasted greatly with her hair, dangling wildly amidst the cold air that gusted through.

* * *

A woman took out a fresh piece of paper and stamped on it.

In fine black letters it read:

**Neliel Tu Oderschvank:**

**Her hair is green because she eats too much vegetables. Kidding. **

**Bet'cha can't pronounce her last name.**

**She can easily lift 100 pounds. No, seriously.**

**

* * *

**

The girl's expression twisted slightly at the sight of the two fighting, especially when her eyes met with Grimmjow's, earning a suspicious look from Ichigo. A light frown marred her pretty features, enough to make her eyebrows furrow down in obvious displease.

Grimmjow let out a frown as he crossed his arms, immediately addressing her with a glower. That appeared to be normal, though, as she didn't even cringe like so many other girls before her had. "The fuck are you doing here?"

"I-I was trying to find you earlier, though you stormed off all of a sudden." She said quietly. Grimmjow made aggravated noises, though did not bother making any false pretenses, and merely grunted in annoyance... and, excuse him, but was that _guilt_ in his voice? Ichigo stared, intrigued and astonished at the same time*.

"I told you to keep up." He bit, face sour. She snapped her head up to him, mirroring his expression, which only furthered to make the blue-haired boy growl. "Don't let your panties get in a bunch." He huffed, rolling his eyes.

"That's—that's—..." The girl fumbled over her words, cheeks blushing brightly before she quickly transversed* subjects. "That's not the point! You're not supposed to fight! What happens if you get in trouble?" She squeaked, face overcome with worry. The girl turned her attention to Ichigo then, and immediately bowed, which made the boy jump.

"What the fuck, Nel! Don't bow to him!" Grimmjow growled quickly, though the girl called Nel furtively ignored him, diverting her full attention to Ichigo.

"I'm so very sorry," She said in a hurried, polite tone, amidst the loud protests of 'Don't fucking apologize to him either, dumbass!' in the background.

Confused and ignoring Grimmjow's presence as well, which he found to be a very comforting thing, Ichigo put up his hands quickly. "Uh. Yeah. You don't need to do that. Bowing, I mean." He said, tone a bit awkward and uncomfortable.

"O-oh, okay." The girl acquiesced, a bit uncertain as she regarded the embarrassed look in his face. She brightened up quickly, though, when she remembered to introduce herself. " Oh! And as you've heard before, my name is Nel. Please don't mind Grimmjow. He's just a big dunder-head." She added, giving a thoughtful smile.

Ichigo couldn't suppress the snicker that quickly built at his throat. "Dunder-head?" He repeated, glancing at the blue-haired boy with a shit-eating grin. Grimmjow's nerve popped, looking ready to have a bitch fit.

"Nel! Shut _up!_ Strawberry, I swear to fucking God I _will_—"

"Grimmjow! We don't swear to God!"

"I told you to _shut up_, didn't I!"

There was a loud slam at the rooftop entrance as the door banged violently, though it went unnoticed amidst the sudden and inevitable commotion that was caused by the two delinquents. Rukia approached them, an alarmed, quickly becoming enraged look decorating her features as she stared at the scene in front of her.

Grimmjow had Nel in a headlock to keep her from saying any more embarrassing 'pet-names', and had a fist poised towards Ichigo's face, while the spiky-headed boy in turn had a tight grip on the green-haired girl's shoulder in an attempt to free her from the unexpected headlock, and had his fist readied into a tight ball as well.

Eyes slowly narrowing, Rukia spoke in an even, dangerous tone. "What's going on here?"

The three slowly turned around, stunned expressions on each of their faces as if they had been caught red-handed. Ichigo scowled, emitting an aggravated sound as he slowly lowered his hand, whilst Grimmjow, disappointed from the spiky, orange-headed boy's sudden lack of a fighting spirit, merely let out a low growl and dropped his arm as well, though he refused to let go of the girl.

"Great. There's another bitch here." Grimmjow muttered roughly. Nel squirmed under him, slipping her fingers against his arm in an effort to free herself out of the headlock; though, Grimmjow did not relent. Three seconds passed by where she still continued squirming, before she finally elbowed him in the gut. He let go of her almost immediately. Least to say, it hurt a bit.

Once he let go of her, the green-haired girl produced a childish shriek of glee, making both boys wince slightly at the high-pitched tone.

"Rukia!" Nel cried, rushing towards the smaller girl to envelop her in a sudden bear hug, which more than shocked the two boys. So, they were in this together, huh? Surprise, surprise.

"Nel, what're you doing here?" Rukia questioned a bit stiffly as she tried to regain the oxygen that was lost due to the crushing bear hug.

The green-haired laughed nervously, scratching the back of her head. "Oh, I'm sorry... I was actually with Grimmy—"

"Do not ever fucking call me that agai_—_"

"_Grimmy_, huh?"

"Burn in hell, strawberry—"

"—but he just dashed off somewhere all of a sudden... That was when I saw you, I think, but I momentarily got lost and just coincidentally ended up here, ehehehe."

Eyes widening at her explanation, Rukia stared at Grimmjow through the top of Nel's head, before switching her gaze back to the green-haired girl. "You... you know each other?"

"Um, yes. For a really long time now, I think."

"Too damn long, if you ask me."

"Unfortunately." Nel quipped jokingly. The blue-haired boy gave her a disgruntled look, making her giggle.

Sighing at the unexpected turn of events, Rukia gave a resigned smile and merely patted the top of Nel's head, despite the fact that the green-haired girl was taller than her. "Well, I would've never guessed that."

"It makes sense, though, since she's got like _green hair—_"

"Nobody asked for your opinion." Rukia muttered, cutting him off. Ichigo scowled at her, though it either went unnoticed or was ignored. Nel, hearing what Ichigo had said, only gave a humorous smile, taking no offense. She knew _Grimmjow_, for Pete's sake. You either took no offense or sobbed pathetically in the corner.

"It's not like orange hair's any better." The green-haired girl retorted lightly, earning a surprised look from Ichigo.

He frowned a bit at her comment, as was customary, though found himself playing along with her joke. "It's better than _green_."

Wearing a smirk, Rukia eyed Grimmjow, challenging him as she gestured towards the other two. "What do you think?"

"About what?" He grunted noncommittally.

"About Nel flirting with Ichigo. Jealous?"

The blue-haired boy immediately snorted. "Flirting? I'm pretty sure she still wets her bed. You, on the other hand," A mischievous grin instantaneously crawled unto his face as he said this, making Rukia scowl. "Jealous that Strawberry's talking to another girl besides you?"

"Oh please." Rukia immediately rolled her eyes, not even giving a moment to dwell upon the absurd, _ridiculous_ idea. "I'm not self-absorbed, like _some_ people." She huffed, looking down to check the time on her silver wrist-watch. The challenging smirk flashed back unto her face. "So if I asked Ichigo to walk Nel to her next class, you'll—"

He was already gone, though, having already grabbed the green-haired girl by the arm and dragged her towards the doorway of the rooftop. In his stead stood Ichigo, who gave her an odd look.

"Why should _I_ walk Nel to her next class? I don't even know where the hell her next class is." He muttered, before shortly adding as he briefly glanced down to the small girl. "Besides, don't you have lunch next? I'm heading the same way."

Rukia looked at him, stunned, for about two seconds, before a small smile slipped past her lips. "You're such a dumbass."

* * *

A/N: Edited. I made Nel actually have a personality, and detailed more on her background with Grimmjow.


	4. The usual story

This is an AB conversation:  
C is how you get away  
Before I tell D and E to F you up,  
G.  
So please stop with the familiar **TOMFOOLERY.**

**Notes:** I'd like to try how a Chappy gum tastes like…

* * *

After 3 days of unnecessary reacquainting with 2 problem students, and a seemingly innocent green-haired girl:

_Tap._

_Tap._

_Tap._

_Tap._

_Tap-_

"Rukia, can you please stop? I'm asking nicely." Ichigo's face, big shocker, was set into its usual scowl. They were currently sitting at the rooftop of Karakura High School, for they'd arrived a little too early—or, in other words: she dragged him there too early. God only knew how the small girl managed to do it.

"Well, your face isn't asking nicely." She retorted dully, a far cry from her usually brilliant and witty comebacks. Her tone was dry, expression bored out of its mind as her fingers continued slamming the pencil against the wad of paper.

TAP.

TAP.

TAP.

Ichigo's scowl deepened, sharp brown eyes directing a glare towards the small girl. Was it just him, or was the incessant tapping getting so much louder? Like instead of a pencil, she was using a hammer to pound on what didn't seem like paper, but a thin slice of metal instead? Just hearing it pound like that irritated him.

"Ichigo?" She called out, voice suddenly curious.

"What?" He seethed, biting his tongue to prevent himself from belting out a painfully sarcastic _'Oh, I'm sorry, I couldn't hear because your damn tapping DAMAGED MY FREAKING EAR DRUMS!' _If he did, she'd most likely just give a sneer and tap even louder, like _that _was what he needed right now.

TAP.

"What's your favorite color?" Rukia questioned, her inquiry too random and childish for him to take seriously. Instead, he gave her a dead-panned stare, as if to say '_Really?_' She gave him an impatient frown.

TAP.

Ichigo sighed, relenting just a little. "Fine. Whatever. I'll answer, if you just stop with the damn tapping."

TAP.

The small girl smirked. She liked talking with him, with all the taunts and bickering that they did. She found it ridiculously entertaining. "I won't stop unless you answer my question." Rukia drawled, not giving him the satisfaction of a compromise.

Ichigo growled at her, adjusting his posture so he could better glare down at the girl, who sat only a few feet away from him. "Fine. Then I don't have any favorite colors."

Rukia finally stopped tapping, gaining a raised brow from the spiky-haired boy. Her smile widened instead, amethyst eyes glinting with mischievousness as she smiled. "Oh? Can I put orange then?"

"Orange?" His eyes immediately narrowed at her. "What're you doing that has to do with my favorite color, midget? Are you that bored?"

"Shut up, strawberry. And don't call me midget." She scoffed, holding up the notepad for him to see. "It's for the school newspaper. Remember that I volunteered for the report?"

"Oh. Yeah. That damn report." He sighed heavily, before giving a smirk. "Well write this down." He said, mirroring the girl's fake smile. Unaware, Rukia listened. "My favorite color's red, as in the blood that'll be spilling out of the school newspaper's staff's guts if they don't stop with this dumbass shit."

"Favorite color is red—" Rukia immediately paused in writing as realization dawned on her. Eyes narrowing, she ripped out the paper and balled it up, throwing it at him in spite. "Like hell I'm writing that!"

Ichigo merely scowled as the paper ball hit his nose, plucking it up from his lap. His eyes scrutinized as he was met with her handwriting: light, curvy, and with the 'i's dotted with a girlish heart—all in all, giving the appearance of the perfect female student. (_'Oh please.'_ He thought bitterly). The words, however, were the exact opposite. In wavy handwriting, it said: '_My favorite color is red, like the color of my menstruation.'_

His scowl deepened at this, and instead of balling the paper again, he ripped it apart. "You're the worst writer, midget. That's _clearly_ not what I said, and I do _not_ fucking menstruate."

"Clearly, you do." She scoffed, rolling her eyes and giving a taunting smile. "You need some tampons?"

It was certain days like these that he enjoyed, even if he'd rather sacrifice a limb than admit the truth. And although they were insulting and calling each other names, it _felt _right—

… Until the bell rang.

* * *

First period was Japanese Literature, which was divided into 4 parts. Though what with it just being the first quarter of the year, they were only currently learning about Ancient Japan.

"So the other guy says—" The teacher said, attempting to relate the subject to the students by telling random and unimpressive jokes. The students stared at the teacher with cold, distant looks.

Rukia, meanwhile, was _practically_ dying of boredom, regardless whether or not her exterior appearance was showing it. She had already learned all of this when she was just but a child, and so lightly frowned when the teacher began to degenerate the lesson and dumb it down for the students to better understand. What, did he think that they were all just idiots?

"Do you get it?" The teacher said, staring frustratedly at his students' bland facial expressions. At this, he merely gave an anguished sigh and pushed the rims of his glasses further into his face. "Well, fine, if you choose not to listen, then I'm not the one who'll fail the test —insert groaning— alright, alright, stop. Turn to the person behind you and do activity thirteen together. The page is on the board. Now stop whining. End of discussion."

Rukia, as did the rest of the students, followed the teacher's instructions with a slight listlessness in her actions, that is, until she turned around. Amethyst eyes widened. A boy—_no_, a giant sat behind her, on a desk that nearly couldn't fit him. His brown locks covered much of his eyes, and he was a bit… well, bulky... His jaw was square and strong, hands calloused and huge, and for a brief moment, Rukia wondered if he'd do any harm to her if she said the wrong thing.

She then proceeded to snort inwardly.

Not that she was _that_ scared. Even the Incredible Hulk had a heart, right? Much less a giant in high-school; he couldn't be _that _villainous of guy, especially if he got into her AP Japanese Literature class. But on the other hand, how did she never notice that he had been sitting behind her all this time?

The small girl struggled to turn her desk around to face the giant. Once she finished doing this task, Rukia decided to drop her fake, perfect-student front, and instead gave him a genuine smile.

"The name's Rukia Kuchiki. And you are?" She struck out a hand. The giant raised a sole brow, revealing warm, dark brown eyes.

"Sado Yasutora. Nice to meet you, Kuchiki." He answered in a low, surprisingly quiet tone, hesitating to whether or not shake her hand. Since it was already outstretched anyways, Rukia took his sharply.

"Charmed." She gave a small grin, before retracting back into her seat and picking up her Chappy pen, resuming back to the activity.

The silent boy, to say the least, was intrigued. He then became more intrigued when he noticed that she had a Kon from The Carnivore Kingdom pencil lying beside her pencil bag. Rukia was more than a little lost when she found her partner staring at her. Tracing the gaze of his vision, she realized that he wasn't staring _at _her per se, but towards her Kon pencil.

She gave a light chuckle, looking up at him with curious eyes. "Do you watch Carnivore Kingdom?"

He paused at her question, taking long seconds to answer it. "… Perhaps."

"I don't really watch that show," She answered truthfully, and at once, he expected to hear the words 'Because it's a little kid's show'. He was incredibly surprised, however, when she continued. "I watch Chappy the Bunny!" She declared with...— was that _pride?_—and proceeded to hold up her pen for him to see in all its bunny-rabbit glory.

Chappy the Bunny, the giant noted, the same Chappy the Bunny that was an even more childish show than The Carnivore Kingdom, not that there was anything wrong with that. He was also quite fond of children shows. It was just the fact that Chappy the Bunny wasn't _exactly_ a children show—it was aimed for toddlers. Though the girl did not seem to mind this, since she was openly gushing over the pen.

Rukia suddenly took the Kon pencil from her pencil bag and held it out to him, surprising the silent boy even more. "Here." She said. "I'm probably not a very big fan compared to you."

He gave her something of a smile, which she returned, and they started working.

* * *

"Kuchiki-san, where're you going?" A girl asked, watching Rukia's figure curiously as she rushed out of the classroom.

Rukia looked over her shoulder, an uncharacteristically anxious expression replacing the ever-present perfect-student smile on her face. "I have to go back to my house and get my project. It's due today, and well... our teacher isn't exactly the most forgiving person."

The girl laughed at this. "Yeah, you're right. Well, try and hurry up, you'll get into even more trouble! I'll try and cover for you, if you want."

"You're like an angel! Thank you." Rukia squealed girlishly, giving the girl a quick hug. She paused though, looking a bit apprehensive as she peered at the girl. "Could you, err, tell Kurosaki-kun that—"

"I'd rather not." The girl answered almost immediately. Rukia sighed, mumbling under her breath. "I thought so."

* * *

Lunch went by fast, as it always seemed to do these past few days. And along with it going by rather speedily, it was also one of those days where Ichigo hung out—or something like it, at least—with his friends.

As he came through the cafeteria doors, the students inside the large hall instantly died of fear and then slowly came back to life again. They were somewhat used to him just barging in like that nowadays, with a scowl that frankly, should've been a licensed weapon or something. It was like a love-and-hate relationship. They always let him cut up all the way to the front of the line, though, which was why Ichigo still kept doing it.

Unfortunately, the ditz cafeteria lady was still there. The fact that she was also still scared of him pleased Ichigo somewhat, but the school administrator had made him properly apologize to her after traumatizing the woman on her first day.

She placed the plate of pizza unto his tray the second he looked at her, and he debated whether or not saying 'thank you' just to either be sarcastically humorous today or be genuinely polite. Glancing at the woman's cowering form, though, he decided to save his witticism for another day. Taking his food without another thought, he paid for his lunch and came out of the line…

The cafeteria doors suddenly burst open, slamming against the wall to reveal Grimmjow, a sneer on his face, with Nel trailing hurriedly after him.

"Grimmjow, you didn't have to kick it open!" She chastised, giving the students around them apologetic looks. "Look, you even scared them—!"

"The fuck do I care if they're scared?" The blue-haired boy answered, pulling her along roughly before snapping his attention to the front of the room and pointing towards the line. "Get your food fast before I change my mind and leave you here, veggie-head." Nel rolled her eyes.

Meanwhile, the students surrounding them panicked, going into a state of pandemonium.

("OHMYGOD, it's Grimmjow!" A random student shrieked, gesturing wildly at the blue-eyed boy's direction.

"_What!_" It was followed by a crazed shout from a girl across the cafeteria. "That can't be! HE'S here!" She cried, eyes wide with turmoil as she threw a trembling finger at Ichigo.

"RUN EVERYBODY!")

Ignoring the rest of the student population's clamors for help and fear, Tatsuki called for Ichigo.

"OI! Ichigo!" She hollered, well-aware of the fact that they had fought just a year ago. In fact, almost everybody in their school knew it. It was, after all, the fight that highlighted their year. It wouldn't be odd if the two still had a bit of a grudge left even after the school administrators threatened the both of them with expulsion if they continued in their juvenile ways.

Orange locks whipped around as Ichigo turned towards his childhood friend. "Yeah?"

Orihime had also turned around in her chair to face him once she realized what had been going on, sincere concern for the spiky, orange-headed boy, and something deeper, written over her features. "Kurosaki-kun, are you okay?" She called timidly, though Ichigo had somehow managed to hear it throughout the intensive yelling of the crowd.

"Yeah." He replied absently. His face, Tatsuki noticed, showed no sign of tensing up or hostility— even remote concern, despite the fact that his_ freaking_ rival was currently making his way towards him. It was either they've forgotten their differences and got rid of all their animosity during the fight, or that… that… She honestly didn't know what to expect.

Abruptly catching sight of Ichigo, in lieu of all the crazed shouts, a grin instantly stretched upon Grimmjow's lips.

He made a move to approach him, and all of the other students immediately backed away, almost like in natural instinct, and instead formed a giant circle over the two delinquents' figures. Nel, having attended the school merely yesterday, was unaware of the two's notorious history together, and was therefore easily swarmed over by the crowd.

"What're you doing here?" Ichigo questioned, arching a brow. The students made an 'ooh'-ing sound, mistaking it as a challenge. It was furtively ignored by the orange-haired boy.

Grimmjow frowned. "Nel was—" He paused, looking back over his shoulder at the sudden disappearance of the green-haired girl, before scrapping it altogether. "We have a fight to finish, remember?"

Ichigo scowled at this. "Forget it. I'm eating here, you know. Where's your manners, jackass?"

A loud slam immediately reverberated throughout the cafeteria, making the students jump and flinch in surprise. Grimmjow grinned down at Ichigo, having grabbed the latter boy by the collar and out of his chair to provoke him.

Ichigo's face immediately changed from being stunned to becoming enraged, though before he could retaliate, Nel had almost instantaneously pushed through the crowd and clung onto Grimmjow's arm, pulling him away from the spiky, orange-haired boy.

"Grim, come on, not today..." She said evenly, tone almost pleading. He shrugged her off, though also relented in his hold on Ichigo's collar. "Yeah, yeah. I didn't really feel like fighting all that much, anyway." He muttered tersely.

"Thank you." Nel said, sighing in relief, to which he replied with a grunt. She turned towards Ichigo then, giving him an apologetic look. He scratched his head, the adrenaline flash earlier having already worn away. "I'm really sorry about this, Ichigo. He's just—"

"A big dunder-head." The spiky, orange-haired boy finished, wearing a smirk. Grimmjow scowled. "Fuck you, strawberry."

"Woah! Am I _hungry!_" Nel produced a nervous laugh, immediately pulling the latter boy away from Ichigo before any further provocation could be made. "Come on, Grim," She said, feigning an impatient child's tone as they moved towards the cafeteria line. Her front was immediately broken, however, when a sudden, curious thought struck her.

"I wonder where Rukia is." She muttered thoughtfully, eyes grazing the cafeteria for the small girl. "I was hoping we could sit together in lunch—"

Grimmjow abruptly sneered. "Like hell I'm staying in this tragic place. I'm leaving after you get your lunch—"

"But you can't leave me until I find Rukia...! I've been looking for her ever since 1st period; I didn't even see her anywhere in the hallways today, which is weird, because that's where we usually see each other—"

Ichigo's ears twitched as he heard their conversation, which wasn't hard, considering Grimmjow's loud _"Who the fuck cares about her!"_

He digested this information, unable to comprehend that the small girl had been missing since 1st period, however. She couldn't be lost, could she? She wasn't _that _stupid, getting lost in the second month of school, right? But_ 1__st__ period_?It was fucking lunch right now!

Minutes passed where he merely continued chewing his food, looking thoughtful and suspicious, before finally, he wiped his face and stood up, marching out the cafeteria with a sort of deliberate purpose.

His abrupt action not only captured the majority of the cafeteria's attention, but Nel's as well, and she tugged on Grimmjow's sleeve, making the latter turn around in irritation.

"You're so fucking lucky you're not just some random chick—" He started to grumble, only to cut his previous sentence off when he caught sight of the spiky, orange-haired boy marching out of the cafeteria. He quickly shrugged his surprise off, however, and instead wore a disinterested frown, expression regardless.

"Probably off to look for Kuchiki." Grimmjow scoffed.

"How nice." Nel smiled, admiration in her eyes.

"Loser." He mocked again, though after a minute's consideration, a bright and unexpected grin suddenly formed on the blue-haired boy's lips. Pushing Nel out of the cafeteria line, he hollered after Ichigo. "Hey, loverboy! Wait for us!"

* * *

Rukia, unknowing that she had just caused some kind of ruckus back at school, rushed towards Karakura High. Clutched between her chest and left arm was a folder, reserved for the history project due in—eleven, no, _ten_ minutes. Despite her perfect-student persona, her teacher still had it in for her, becoming something of a bitter, cynical old man after nearly ten years of teaching in high-school. He was just waiting to bust her, Rukia bet, and she'd be damned to give him _that _satisfaction. Even if she couldn't please anybody, she'd make it a point to graduate as the school's poster child, and rub it in his face if need be.

The small girl cackled silently at this thought, though her rapture immediately broke when she looked over her watch again, a habit that she'd been doing twice every second now.

Shit! She was seriously running late!

Glanced all around her for some kind of a shortcut, she spied an alleyway, cutting across the street. It was a straight passage to school, and she'd only probably have to jump some fences and bushes from somebody's backyard to cut through. The girl approximated it to take about seven minutes, if she hurried, leaving a few minutes to run through the school (unseen, of course, because of her reputation) in time for class.

She strode there, not at all cautious of the danger that it might forebode.

* * *

Breaking the dumbfounded silence that overcame the cafeteria when the two delinquent students—_and was that a girl with green hair?_—trudged together out of vicinity, as if they had been old friends or something, Tatsuki turned towards her table with a curious expression on her face, voice hesitant.

"...what just happened?" She asked shortly, frowning in puzzlement. Orihimie's forehead likewise creased in concern and perplexity, though she said nothing.

Keigo merely chewed, though, seemingly unperturbed as he finished his cheeseburger and balled up the greasy wrapping. Swallowing and wiping the corners of his mouth with his hand, he looked at the two girls with a raised brow. "Aren't you two supposed to know? Especially you, Tatsuki. You're his childhood friend; you're supposed to ask him these questions!"

Tatsuki's frown deepened. "We kind of,... stopped talking after—"

"After his mom died?" Orihime suggested in a hushed whisper.

The spiky-haired girl shook her head. "No. I had to be there for him more during that time, even if he didn't tell me anything. But, we stopped talking when he decided to—..." She paused, face morose and heavy.

"Start smoking?" Keigo offered after the small pause, leaning back into his chair relaxingly. "It was a hard time for him, seeing his mom... pass away, and then blaming himself for it. We've all stopped talking to him when he smoked, Tatsuki."

Mizuiro cast an inquisitive gaze over the brunet. "Since when have you been understanding, Keigo?"

"Lifetime magazines, celebrity gossips, tabloids..." The boy grinned. "You gotta love 'em!"

Chizuru immediately snorted at this. "You buy those sorts of things? I thought you were a man."

"NO! They're my sister's! And can't a man be sentimental?"

Taking care to tune out the two that had suddenly gone off-topic and started bickering, Orihime turned to Mizuiro timidly. "Do you know why Kurosaki-kun suddenly left like that, Kojima-kun?"

"It's for the usual." The boy said, sounding a bit thoughtful as he replied.

The girl's face contorted in confusion. "Huh?"

* * *

Silence engulfed her surroundings as she walked along the alleyway cautiously, casting a glance over at her every direction. Nobody was there, though for some odd reason, Rukia's gut told her that she was being followed.

She whirled herself around when she heard a piercing clang, the sound resembling a drop of penny inside an empty chasm. "Who's there?" She shouted, though she was merely answered by her own echo.

Vicious amethyst eyes glared at the vicinity near the dumpster, narrowing in upon a shoe that was sticking out. "I know you're following me." She declared finally, and following her declaration, three boys emerged out of their hiding places. To her surprise, she recognized the uniforms they wore. They were from Karakura.

"Ah, that ruined our fun." One of the boys said, giving a depressing sigh before leveling a stare her way. It seemed as if he was sizing her up, and Rukia twitched under his careful scrutiny. "Well, if it isn't Kuchiki-san! What's a girl like you taking this sort of route, hmm?"

"None of your business."

"That's not a nice thing to say to your upperclassmen, Kuchiki-san. What happened to your _renowned_ manners?"

"I don't spare posers like you the time of day."

At this, the boy immediately let out a dry laugh. "You hang out with one of the biggest posers in school! What was his name again?" He turned to one of his friends, and when he was supplied with the name, he gave another laugh. "Ichigo? As in _strawberry_? What, for real? And you're calling _us_ posers?"

"Compared to him, you three look pathetic." She bit back coolly, wearing a cold smile. "I know a poser when I see one."

* * *

"The usual'?" Tatsuki chimed in, giving Mizuiro an odd look.

Mizuiro opened his mouth to continue explaining, though Keigo cut him off sharply.

"Y'know, clichéd stuff. He probably had to go and see someone or something, like in the movies."

"You're kidding, right?"

Keigo snickered. "Yeah. Though I won't be surprised if that was the case. Ichigo doesn't usually get up and go like that for just anything, unless of course he had to use the bathroom—"

"Ugh, disgusting. I knew we should've never listened to you in the first place."

* * *

"You calling us posers?"

"I think that's what I've been trying to say these past few minutes."

The boy sneered at this, and immediately strode to Rukia, surprising the girl as he grabbed a hold of her wrist. Her eyes quickly darted to his hand.

"If you know what's good for you, you'll let me go." She threatened evenly, voice low.

He ignored her warning, and instead, his free hand grabbed her by the hair, pulling her head down to force her to look up at his eyes. "I'll teach you some new manners, girl—"

Her fist tightened, fingernails digging into her palm as she balled up her hand, drawing it back and releasing it like a twisted coil.

Rukia's eyes widened as the boy practically _flew_ on his feet when her fist connected with his face, and she swore she even heard a crack in his lower jaw. His friends' eyes' popped out of their sockets, and their mouths unhinged, slackening in disbelief as they looked at their fallen comrade.

The boy crashed unto the ground with a sickening _thud_.If one was to look closely into his face, they would've spotted a broken nose and a busted lip that would require several stitches.

Least to say, the girl was a bit dumbfounded at her new-found prowess. She knew she fought well, but not _that_ well.

A masculine voice erupted behind her.

"Whose teaching who some new manners now?"

Rukia's head spun around to meet a mess of spiky, orange hair. The owner's cool, brown eyes were evidently furious, reflecting a bit of hot amber in its normally lukewarm color, though his voice appeared to be entertained. "So, what have we learned today?"

"Ichigo?" Rukia called, stunned.

As she said this, she noticed Grimmjow coming into the alleyway as well, wearing an enthused grin as he cracked his knuckles. "Fuck yeah! I haven't been in a brawl since last week!"

"Y-you bastards," The boy from before muttered hoarsely, spitting out blood as he struggled to get back unto his feet. He threw the two boys a scathing glare, nursing his fractured jaw and his bruised ego. "You'll pay for this."

Ichigo tutted him. "That's not a smart thing to say to someone whose about to kick your ass. We'll have to teach you another lesson then, right Grimmjow?"

"Damn right, strawberry."

"... Grimmjow...? Strawberry...? Don't tell me..." The boy instantly staggered backwards, face a mix of shock and fear.

* * *

"It's probably a girl. Most things tend to be a girl." Mizuiro said, adding unto Keigo's previous statement.

What he said disappointed her, though she merely tried to shrug it off. "You guys are such dorks, telling all this love story crap. Ichigo's not like that—it's probably just his sister or something."

* * *

A bit dazed, Rukia walked out of the alleyway, surprising herself that she actually followed Ichigo's command when he told her to wait outside. Though her self-awareness snapped back to her when she was immediately greeted by Nel, who looked weary and breathed in harsh pants, as if she'd been running laps around the town.

"S...—_pant_—sorry, Ruki—_pant—_a, for not having—_pant_—noticed that—_pant—_ you were gone earlier." At this, she enclosed the small girl into a loose hug, looking truly penitent. "I should have noticed earlier, that way, you wouldn't have been in this mess!" She cried hurriedly, inhaling a huge breath of air after her speech.

"Nel... why do you look so tired?" Rukia questioned confusedly. The girl gave one of her trademark nervous laughs as she scratched the back of her head. Now recovering a bit, she was able to speak at length. "Well, at first I was following Grimmjow, who was following Ichigo, but I somehow got lost along the way... I think it was because we took a shortcut through the shopping center, and I didn't get to eat lunch, so—um, yeah. Go figure."

Rukia opened her mouth to reply, though both of their attentions were diverted when they noticed Ichigo finally coming out of the alleyway. His face possessed a few scratches, and his knuckles were stained with what appeared to be the other boys' blood.

"Here comes one of the two dunderheads." Nel announced, giving a low whistle.

"I thought Grimmjow was the only dunderhead."

"You went a bit too far, like Grim always does. Therefore; dunderhead." The green-haired girl explained simply, smiling.

Rukia stared at the dried blood on his knuckles with narrow eyes, and thinking that she was concerned for him, he gave a smug smirk. It deteriorated quickly, however, when her narrow eyes leveled towards his face in slight disappointment.

"You didn't have to take it that far." The small girl muttered, jabbing a finger into his ribs pointedly.

"I didn't." Ichigo answered, and then scowled when she gave him a deadpanned look. "If you ask me, I went easy on them."

"Then why are your hands all bloody? Menstruating again? And where the hell is Grimmjow!"

"Oh, I uh—better go and get him before they press any charges." Nel murmured to herself thoughtfully, before hurriedly going inside the alleyway again. A "GRIM! Stop it!" was heard, followed by cries of gratitude from the three boys and a loud, "Stop spoiling my fun, Veggie-head!".

Meanwhile, Ichigo scrutinized Rukia, and immediately, his eyes narrowed when they spotted a tiny scratch at her cheek. "How come you didn't tell me you were going out and skipping class?" He began, tone slightly irritated.

The small girl instantly frowned at this. "I don't have to tell you anything. I can take care of myself just fine."

"Even against three guys? _Really now_?"

"I had it all under control."

"Yeah, right." He gave a sarcastic laugh, turning away to better control his fluctuating anger. "You know what? Forget it." He muttered dryly. "I'm _glad _you're okay."

"_Thank you._" The small girl returned with a slight hiss, tone acidic. She crossed her arms and glared at the wall opposite the boy's figure. Anguish silenced filled the space between the two teenagers. Ichigo likewise had started to bore holes at the wall above the small girl's head.

He didn't see that she had looked up, though, stealing a glance from his face. There was an alien feeling tugging inside her chest.

Pain? _No_. She was barely scratched.

Regret? _Too strong..._

Guilt? ... ...

Releasing a heavy sigh, Rukia attempted to try and summon an appeasing voice towards the spiky, orange-haired boy.

Her pride and ego had immediately questioned just what the hell she thought she was doing, though she willed it to shut up and _stay_ shut for just a mere three minutes.

"Hey,"

"What?" He muttered, automatically giving a scowl as he chanced glancing at her. When he did, however, he drew back a little, finding himself shocked upon seeing her smiling face.

Was she really smiling? He squinted his eyes in suspicion. No—wait—_yes_. She was definitely smiling. A tiny one, yes, but it wasn't fake.

But the Rukia he knew would never _smile _like that—

"Thanks. Really." She said, snapping him from his dumbfounded thoughts. Her voice was a bit forced and embarrassed though, but it was authentic, and none of that perfect-student crap. And she was smiling: genuinely, truly, indisputably...

—okay, so she smiled. So his stomach happened to flip when she did smile. So he liked it when she smiled like that. So what?

"You know, I want to rub my eyes and see if this is really happening." He said suddenly, still a bit disbelieving. Wait— did he just voice that out loud? Her smile instantly vanished at this, much to his immediate regret for saying anything, and in the place of her smile now formed a frown.

"Do I have to hug you too?" She said sarcastically.

His scowl remained unyielding, though he played along. "Your shortness isn't contagious, is it?" She answered his question with a none-too-gentle punch on the arm.

It was days like these that he enjoyed, with just the two of them, and although he still retained a bit of an annoyance for the three third-years, it was pretty worthwhile...

... Until the other two showed up.

* * *

"Yeah, you're right. It's probably just something like that..." Mizuiro said, finishing. "But It's better to let it unfold by itself."

* * *

A/N: Edited.


	5. Doing them a favor

Go away,  
I don't need your help,  
I may be small but I'm old enough, don't you say?  
I know you've got better things to do,  
Than to help a girl like me all day,  
And this may hurt me a little bit, but  
It's time to end this** TOMFOOLERING**,  
'Kay?

**Summary**: It was the way she looked at him, like she just saved the whole world rather than stopping a normal high schooler smoke, that made him eat the Chappy themed bubblegum without a single complaint.

* * *

Monday:

… An orange boy is standing outside the glassed walls of the after school drama club…

Tuesday:

… With his arm folded and his lips set into a scowl…

Wednesday:

Like yesterday.

Thursday:

And the day before yesterday.

Friday:

And the day before that.

One week later:

And before that.

Monday (again):

And probably tomorrow too.

* * *

"Kuchiki-chan, he's still there." Shuddered a random boy.

Rukia's eyebrow twitched. Today in drama club, they were supposed to portray another one's movement and the random boy just happened to be her partner, like he happened to be a senior student of Karakura High.

"I know, I know." The small girl sighed back in reply. And since the incident a week ago, Ichigo couldn't help but glare at the senior boy with all the loathing and disgust he could muster.

And that was probably just the beginning.

The cool brown-eyed boy was going to be DAMNED if he couldn't watch her and be there if anyone –specifically senior boy- dared to touch Rukia.

Suddenly, RIGHT THEN AND THERE, out of nowhere, a blue-haired boy walked up beside Ichigo, a sneer on his dangerous face.

The senior boy stared right ahead and fear showed in his eyes.

"His _friend_ is there!!"

Even Grimmjow was pissed off too.

And surely enough, they were mouthing threats to her partner since the boy was saying to her:

"They said they were gonna rip my head off my shoulders and use my blood to write letters on the glass wall!!" He hissed nervously. "To contact with you!!"

Rukia smiled bitterly, dropped her partner's hands, and turned around to face the two juvenile idiots. WHIPLASH!!

Ichigo was crossing his neck with his thumb madly, while Grimmjow punched his face softly and made 'POW!'-ing sounds. Realizing that their subject of protection just turned around and was now giving them glares, they… didn't stop and continued on, obviously enjoying the fright of the senior boy.

The amethyst-eyed girl grabbed a piece of paper and a marker, and wrote: 'GO AWAY!!' on it, she strolled to the glassed-wall and plastered it for them to see.

The spiky orange haired boy just winced at it while the blue haired one howled with laughter.

Oh yeah, she also DREW a threat. Horribly. It consisted of a rabbit (her) that had a big sword in her hand; meanwhile two bears (them two) lay on the ground, their heads cut out of their body.

However it just looked like the bunny was holding a big spoon and the two severed heads of the bears were so deformed, they looked like cornflakes with orange and blue hairballs sticking at the end of them, meanwhile the bodies were like chocolate that had Karakura uniforms. The ground was like the bowl and the blood was milk since she forgot to color them in.

All in all, it looked like the bunny stepped in into a giant cereal bowl and was going to eat the deformed cornflake heads with her big-ass spoon and the milk was squirting out of the chocolates.

Ichigo whipped out a pen from his pocket and a paper from his bag and replied: 'YOUR DRAWING SUCKS ASS RUKIA. Although it's quite convenient that you drew a big spoon for the rabbit so she can eat the deformed cornflakes.'

Rukia blushed madly and looked at her drawing again, she got another scratch of paper, and wrote back: 'IT'S A SWORD, FOOL!'

Ichigo scowled at her stubbornness and wrote for quite a long time before showing it to her again: 'I'm pretty sure it's a spoon… or a toothbrush… so why the hell are there deformed cornflakes if it's a toothbrush? Oh… they're supposed to be the toothpaste coz they have blue and orange things sticking out… and the chocolates are turds? Why the hell are they beside her when she's brushing her friggin' teeth? I get it, but you're sick.'

The jet-black haired girl clawed at the glass and banged, mouthing to him hysterically: 'SHE'S SEVERING THE HEADS!!'

Ichigo was a man who didn't understand mouth language and Grimmjow was now gripping his stomach and was uncontrollably LMAO-ing.

Until that is, the senior boy decided to show up and tap her in the shoulder. Rukia, being… well, Rukia-ish, of course completely forgot about the argument and poured her whole attention to her partner.

"What is it?" She asked directly, amethyst eyes just randomly shining.

The senior boy was kind of goofy looking, but cute in a way with short, combed brown hair, and he wore glasses but decided that he was going to wear contacts today, he was kind of your average-thin-but-tall looking, pretty-faced teenager.

"Kuchiki-chan," he paused before grinning and suddenly giving her a thumbs-up sign. "Teacher said that you're the female lead!!"

Needless to say, both juveniles were mad. They were even madder, when Rukia's eyes shone even more from excitement and hugged the senior boy tightly.

A gesture that she's never shown to any one of them…

… but instantly showed to that of a stranger.

And since they never heard why Rukia hugged the fuckin' senior, Ichigo just guessed that it was like when a stranger offered a kid some candy, and the kid _gladly _accepted it. So he determined that Rukia stepped into a trap and was now in trouble.

Seeing this, Grimmjow banged on the glass and Ichigo mouthed death threats: 'Hug her back and you are _so _gonna die, bastard.' But to no avail, senior dumbass wasn't paying attention.

"Ohmygosh!! I so thought I was gonna lose this!!" the small girl said as she loosened her hug on the senior. "Seeing that Nina's been on the school play ever since freshman year!!"

As Rukia babbled on, the senior made the wrong move to again tighten their hug by placing his hand on her slim waist and patting her on the back.

Grimmjow banged again, this time louder and catching the senior's attention, he mouthed with a frown: 'We warned ya not to hug her back already, douche bag-'

'I didn't see you!' the senior mouthed back frantically.

The blue-haired boy grinned. 'Too late, senior I'm-gonna-get-beat-up-later, coz-'

The bell rang, students filed out of the room, when the back door opened with a SLAM! And in came an angry orange-headed teenager, an annoyed scowl set on his killer gaze.

"Ichigo!"

"Ichig-? You mean Kurosaki?!" The senior almost shrieked. "Shit!"

"Rukia, Nel says she wants to walk home with you."

"Tell her I'll meet her at the library."

"No, she asked if me and Grimmjow would pick you up."

"But Kizaki-kun said he'd walk me there."

Just like his candy-theory. Ichigo sneered at the thought. "So you wanna walk her there, do you?" The senior boy gulped. Ichigo turned around with a scowl and waved back.

"Whatever." But it really meant; 'Are you REALLY sure if you want to walk her there when SOMEONE might ACCIDENTALLY break your neck afterwards?'

The senior stared across the glass wall and to the grinning face of Grimmjow. He swallowed the hard lump on his throat and backed away from Rukia.

"Listen, Kuchiki-chan, I might not be able to walk you there coz something came up." He scratched at his head.

The girl just innocently looked at him and batted her eyelashes.

He paused before a shy smile spread across his face, "But you can come at my football game next weekend."

The senior bid farewell, and Rukia waved back, a satisfied look now grazing her features.

* * *

As Ichigo came to stand beside Grimmjow to watch the unknowing Rukia lock up the room, the blue-eyed boy turned to the orange-headed one with a frown:

"It didn't work."

"What?"

"Your threat. Fucking didn't work."

" You saw the look on his face."

"Yeah, but she made a move."

"The hell?"

"Kuchiki made a move. An innocent one. Gave him _her_ look and all that shit."

"That's customary for her, eye shadow."

"Shut up strawberry, she batted her eyelashes. And he invited her on a date."

"A date?"

"Football game, next weekend."

"Damn."

"Exactly."

All thank Grimmjow, the mouth-reading professional.

* * *

Next Monday: Football game.

-INSERT CHEERING-

_Who the hell_ would've known that this guy right here would be in some kind of Football team?

Well, not Ichigo or Grimmjow... Nel kind of knew a little bit.

They just thought that he had tickets to some kind of game, but no, HE WAS IN ONE. So it maybe wasn't as official as Karakura's team, but hell, he was going to play. And that made Rukia more ecstatic than she usually was.

"Kizaki-kun, you never told me you played!" The small girl said, awestricken at her friend. "How come you never told me you played?!"

The boy scratched the back of his head. "Well, I kind of wanted to surprise you."

_Damn right_ it was a surprise.

Oh, but wait, that wasn't all. A boy like him might've looked like a water boy or a bench warmer, but GET THIS: he was the friggin' quarterback!!

"And Ohmygosh!! You're even the MVP!" Rukia praised even more at the laughing senior.

"I wouldn't really say MVP… but…" a shy smile tugged at his lips. "I guess I am."

The _FRIGGIN'_ quarterback!!

Looking back at the two, Nel glanced at the them. "You know, he really is." She pointed out.

"No freaking way." Ichigo scowled. Grimmjow looked on, amused yet not impressed. His blue hair swayed back as he gave a sharp grin. "Well we're just gonna have to see this."

* * *

Time: 6:45 – one third throughout the game.

Status: Losing.

WHAM!

Rukia winced at the sight of a boy being tackled by two other boys that were bigger than him. His hand slipped off the damned pig-skinned ball and his body fell to the ground. She even swore she heard his spine crack.

"He's okay, you know." Kizuki said, removing his helmet to show off those light blue eyes. "It's just the way the game goes."

Rukia nodded, but wasn't entirely sure. The coach was fuming, the cheerleaders sucked, the players were depressed, and the crowd was starting to hate them.

Oh, and did she mention that the opposing team was bigger than them?

"HUT!" Her drama partner screamed as swarms of blue and red rammed unto each other. Kizuki made some hand signals, and ran back, about three boys chased after him.

"AUGH!" He grunted as he passed the ball and got tackled by said boys. Another one from the opponent's side jumped unto their already tangled pile, just to make sure that Kizuki would stay squished.

"GOT IT!" Screamed the **Running Back**, which was a bad mistake since all attentions snapped towards him.

'IDIOT!' Rukia wanted to scream but held her fury inside, as the **Running Back** sprinted his ass across the field and into the opponent's end zone. His teammates were right behind his tail, tackling the **Defensive Line**.

BAM!

Amethyst orbs winced as one of the **Offensive players** flew off to the side, leaving the **Running Back** open with only one of his teammates to protect him. Her eyes quickly darted to the right, sensing a familiar presence: Kurosaki Ichigo.

OOF!

The other **offensive player** got knocked off to the side with an elbow to the gut. His head lay down low to the grass; unable to stand up and spit started to gurgle from his mouth.

Feeling another recognizable company, amethyst eyes darted to the left this time: Grimmjow Jeagerjaques.

* * *

"STOP!" The coach almost shrieked as his team gathered round him, and since Rukia was standing just a few feet away from the coach, she could clearly hear what they were talking about.

"We have two players down, ladies." The grown man said and tapped on his clipboard. "We need two more, or else we are gonna lose this game."

A random player raised his hand. "But we have those geeks in there."

"EXACTLY!"

Rukia crossed her arms tightly as she looked to her right at the unknowing strawberry boy and glanced at her left at the uncaring blue-haired boy.

There was something in her brain that wanted to be spoken out, but she just couldn't put her finger to _what_ it was exactly.

"Those boys are made for warming the benches, not for playing!!" The coach seethed.

"And coach, Ishimaru strained his ankle." Kizuki added with a frown.

As if things couldn't get any more worse, the coach threw his arms upward and let out an anguish scream. "Great, my fastest running back strained his ankle." He sighed tiredly. "You can choose who you want to play on the field. But Kizuki, _please_ choose wisely."

The words reverberated in Rukia's head as the game started. Then an idea struck her, like a boulder would when demolishing an old building.

She stared yet again at Ichigo, whose cool brown eyes locked with hers. "You're kinda been staring a while midget, what is it?"

The jet-black haired girl didn't respond and turned to look at Grimmjow who was already glaring at her.

"What do you want?" he growled out irritatingly.

* * *

2 minutes later, the two delinquents found themselves clothed in a football uniform. Ichigo being **number 64** and Grimmjow **71**, their helmets rested on their hands, screaming to "PUT ME ON AND GET WITH THE DAMNED GAME ALREADY!"

"I never agreed to this." Ichigo scowled darkly as he shoved the helmet on at his orange head.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Grimmjow suddenly appeared beside him and did the same. "You're the one who friggin' said "We'll do it anyway" after I said that we didn't have to do it!!"

"Shut up." The carrot top scowled even more as he thought back to the time. "How come you didn't say anything?"

"It's FOOTBALL, strawberry!" The azure-eyed male grinned as the coach called the two of them.

"All right girls," the grown man began. "Grimmjow Jackass you will be-"

"It's Jeagerjaques, motherfu-" Rukia stepped on his foot, preventing the violent boy to curse any further.

"As I was saying," the coach looked at the two with critical eyes "Grimmjow J. you will be **Fullback**: your job is to protect either the **quarterback** -Kizuki-, or the **running back** -Hounda-. Hounda will have the ball at pretty much most of the game so block for him more, plus he's also thin and sickish. DON'T let anything happen to him. Strawberry boy, you are a **Tight End**, same job: protect Kizaki and Hounda. Can you handle it?"

The two boys nodded. Ichigo turned around to meet Rukia's short form.

"Just remember that you're representing Karakura High." she said to him.

"I don't give a damn about Karakura High." he answered.

"Okay. How about representing you're egoistical and pompous ass?"

"Fine by me." He smirked as he called unto Grimmjow. "Where's Nel?"

The blue-haired lad growled and pointed at the green-haired girl who was barking commands at the cheerleaders. Those poor, innocent, creatures…

"You're a bad influence." Ichigo pointed out.

"And you're good? Your influences on Kuchiki made us do this shit."

Ichigo grunted in response. The coach raised his hand, the game paused, and the two juveniles stepped unto the field.

* * *

Positions locked, **Running Back** is behind the **Quarterback**, **Full Back** is beside him, while **Tight End** is standing right at the **Offensive Line**.

"Listen kid, run your ass there as fast as you can." Grimmjow instructed as a dangerous grin spread across his face. "We'll take care of the others."

Ichigo scowled. The game was starting, players stood ready in their places when Kizuki began calling out some numbers. "HUT, HUT, HUT!!" the senior boy practically shrieked as he threw the football to Hounda.

The thin kid miraculously caught it, but froze as he watched two **Defensive Backs** charged towards him. He gripped to the ball as though his life depended on it (probably did) and shut his eyes tightly and waited for the incoming pain.

"NO! RUN, idiot, RUN!!" The coach yelled from the sidelines.

Hounda paid no attention; he was horror-stricken, it was as if a piano was about fall over his head and crush him, and he wanted to run but his feet were glued to the ground.

WHAM!!

Grimmjow grabbed number 31 (the **Defensive Back**)'s head and pulverized it to the ground. "Shit-head; run, or I'm gonna MAKE YOU RUN!"

Hounda snapped back from reality and ran as fast as his legs could carry him, which was pretty fast. The mere thought of two juvenile students behind him scared the poor kid. Oh that's right, he goes to KH.

The enemy made another move and sent another **Defensive Back** to charge at them. He was even bigger than Ichigo or Grimmjow, and a heck of a lot bigger than Hounda.

The **running back** whimpered; he refused to get tackled by that giant!

"Keep on running!" Ichigo yelled, his feet was trailing after Hounda; reassuring the kid that he was going to block for him and also reassuring Hounda that if he stopped, Ichigo would also be there to beat the crap outta him after the game.

In one swift move, Grimmjow ran faster to the giant, somehow got behind him, and shoved the big guy towards Ichigo. The strawberry jumped and tackled the oncoming **Defensive Back**; making sure to put all his weight towards the damned giant, whist Grimmjow blocked the rest of them and made way for Hounda.

The kid looked on, amazed at what just happened as Ichigo stood up, dusted himself, and started trailing behind Hounda again as though nothing had happened.

* * *

BAM!

Grimmjow had chest-kicked a player who was in the way of the running back.

OOF!

Ichigo shoved off a boy who was chasing after them.

"Amazing!" The coach said at the two's performance.

The assistant coach looked on with disbelief. "They're breaking every rule!"

The grown man looked at his assistant with excitement. "It's not like the referee's paying attention, and look at how well they block!"

FOOSH!

The crowd cheered when Ichigo pushed Hounda out of the way when an opponent slid on the grass to trip them. The strawberry kicked the befallen boy for revenge and ran back to Hounda.

"You're getting nearer fools!" Rukia screamed as she stood up in a chair. "Kizuki, go already!!"

The **quarterback**, upon hearing his name being called out by the girl, did as he was told. He shoved off the guards and made his way to the opponent's side of the field.

"**Tight End**, guard the friggin' **quarterback**!!" The girl barked loudly.

Ichigo's head snapped.

"NO, NO! Don't go to him, idiot!! _Make way_ for him!!"

The strawberry tackled the **opposing players** who ran towards Kizuki. Ichigo's body remained on top of the pile until Kizuki jumped on their backs and unto the grass again.

"GO **quarterback**!!"

Kizuki sprinted across the field; Ichigo tailed him while roughly elbowing some of the **Linebackers**.

"The **quarterback's** there already!" the girl stomped on the chair angrily, putting both of her hands near her mouth to enhance her voice. "**Running Back**: PASS THE BALL!" Rukia bellowed.

Hounda squeaked and held on the ball tightly.

"You heard her: pass. The. Damned. Ball!!" Grimmjow commanded while still running and blocking for him. But Hounda didn't want to... this was his fist time in here, and he did not want to pass the ball. It was his chance for fame, his chance to be somebody, so he will not let go of the ball until he himself got to the end zone.

"**TIGHT END**!"

"DAMMIT, I KNOW RUKIA!!" Ichigo shouted and made no hesitation to jump on one foot and throw his shoe at a **Linebacker's** face.

OOF!

"WHAT THE HELL!?" Grimmjow yelled at him.

"SHUT UP!" the strawberry fumed. "Hounda, pass the damned ball!"

"No!" the boy shouted back.

"**Tight end**!" Rukia hollered.

"Dammit!" Ichigo cursed, as he slipped off his _only other_ shoe and threw it at a random guard again. Now the carrot top was running wildly on the football field, tackling opposing players crazily, in his socks.

"Kid, pass it!" Grimmjow growled out, irritated.

"I-I can't!" Hounda stuttered. "This is my only chance!"

"**FULLBACK**!" Rukia called at Grimmjow.

Something inside Grimmjow finally snapped. A man could only hold unto his temper so much. "ICHIGO!" he yelled, the carrot top tackled the rest of the **Defensive Line**, pushing them back to make room for whatever it was the jackass was planning (on his socks).

"DONE!" Ichigo yelled back. The azure-eyed man's orbs glinted as he kicked Hounda's ass towards the end zone. As in LITERALLY. He kicked the poor kid's ass so hard; it was enough to cover the distance between them and where Kizuki stood.

The referee whistled.

"TOUCH DOWN!"

Well, sort of.

* * *

5 minutes later:

"Because of an ass-related injury…" The coach's eyes went over the team. "Hounda can no longer play and we have no more RB's (Running Backs)."

No one dared to make any comments on what just happened. They were too afraid to face the wrath of a growling panther…

… except Ichigo.

"Idiot, why did you have to kick his butt so hard?" The strawberry scowled.

"Thanks to me, we scored a touchdown and we're rivaling against the other team!" Grimmjow spat back.

"Thanks to you, we have no more Running Backs!!" Ichigo retorted.

The coach sighed as the two bickered. He saw the girl sitting on the chair that she stood on earlier, drinking a glass of lemonade. "Nice orders back there, girly." He offered.

Rukia's hair swayed back as she stared at the grown man. "Problem, coach?"

"You know anybody that can play RB?" He asked with a frown, Rukia shook her head. "I'm afraid I only know those idiots."

"Hmm…." The coach hummed for a while and went over his options, even forgetting that the girl was right there. Then an idea struck him. Speaking of the girl…

"Hey, you know a lot of football, right?"

"Barely." Rukia answered.

"And you're kinda fast, right?"

"I guess so."

"And the boys kinda follow you, right?"

"Sure."

"And they're overprotective, right?"

"What?"

"Nothing." He answered with a grin as he came to a decision. "Hey, girly, how would you like to play?"

Rukia's eyes widened as she choked a little bit… however not because of what the coach had just said, because…

"SADO!" The small girl bolted and ran to the other side of the field. The gentle giant's eyes widened too when he saw the Chappy-lover running to him.

"New girl?"

"What're you doing here?" She asked, amethyst eyes suspiciously glinting.

"I…………" he paused. "Was on my way home."

"Cool." She answered, grinning very brightly. "Hey, are you liking that new Kon pencil?"

Sado didn't really know how to answer her so he just nodded.

* * *

3 and a half minutes later, Sado ALSO found himself in a football jersey, it was kinda surprising how they found one that was his size. Beside him was Rukia who was fiddling with her helmet.

"Rukia, you CANNOT play, dammit!" Ichigo's voice roared from behind, the amethyst-eyed girl spun to her heel.

"And why not?"

Grimmjow suddenly appeared in step with the strawberry. "Because if somebody tackles you and we end up killing him, it'll be on your head."

Ichigo's eyebrows furrowed. "Or worse."

"I'm a big girl now, guys." She answered; her voice was tamed yet rebellious.

Sado, realizing the worry of the two juveniles, raised his hand. "Don't worry…….. I'll make sure to block for her."

The orange-headed boy was about to yell and explode when he stopped, did a double take, and blinked his eyes. "…. Chad?"

"Hey Ichigo." Was the blunt reply.

"You know each other?" Rukia pointed at the strawberry.

"We graduated together in middle school…" Ichigo replied.

Sado, who was now dubbed as 'Chad' nodded in reply, Ichigo just grinned. Now that Chad was here, everything seemed a whole lot interesting. Even Grimmjow could agree.

"It's fucking ON now."

It was halfway throughout the game; the opposing teams were almost tied. Adrenaline pumped throughout their body as their stomachs flipped from the excitement. Maybe they were taking this football thing too seriously, but hell they were having fun and considering how much the coach got all riled up, the prize must've been something.

It was whether they could win this thing or lose it. And as the boys got into position, everybody just forgot the little detail that RUKIA WAS ALSO PLAYING.

* * *

**So the story plot is** supposed to be Chad and the others meeting. Yep, that's it; the other things are basically fillers also.

**Sorry if it's once again CONFUSING AND RUSHED**. I know, but I just like to write a lot of action scenes whether I be good or not (I'm getting better though, right?).

**ALSO, sorry if it's unnecessarily long**... I just like writing long things...

**And please tell me if you like** the idea of this chapter and the idea of Rukia playing!! Because it'd mean a lot if you like it, I postpone it a bit, and I get more reviews. Speaking of which…

**Is it just me**, or is that purple button REALLY PRETTY that you have got to click it for the sake of this story?


	6. Football rules be damned

I'm left, you're right,  
Go straight; just don't stay out of sight,  
Got your back, I'll even put up a fight,  
Still **TOMFOOLERING**, you don't want to see me uptight,  
When she gets wounded, it all ends tonight.

**Summary:** It was the way she looked at him, like she just saved a whole world rather than stopping a normal high schooler smoke, that made him slowly unwrap the Chappy themed bubblegum and eat it without a single complaint.

* * *

(A/N: Gawd, I just love you guys and your reviews!! I should've thought that _everybody_ loved football sooner!! Now if only it'll reach 50… Detailed and not rushed, got'cha!!)

* * *

Bright lights burned the field, making the players sweat with anticipation. The crowd went wild, suddenly holding banners to cheer whatever team they favored. The sky was dark but the feeling was vivid, as though the moon wanted to be the new sun. Each coach held unto their clipboard like life preservers, and each player held unto their knees, fingers _aching_ to do some damage. **They were now playing defense**, waiting for the opposing team to just call out some numbers, and they'll be done with this.

Ichigo's heart thumped wildly, not because he was scared, but because he was thrilled. He eyed the **enemy quarterback** with an instinct to just beat the living crap out of him for some unknown reason, he didn't even know the guy but his hand was just twitching to do some action, hmm… maybe football makes you this way. His helmet covered head snapped at Grimmjow, orange hair swishing and being uncovered a little. The maniac was grinning… well, shall we say, too enthusiastically. They were _definitely_ taking this football crap too serious, but it was like some new game that replaced hardcore wrestling. And besides, unlike wrestling, football was _real_.

Brown irises suddenly moved, eyeing the **rival quarterback**, knowing that he would start making some calls soon…

"…. HUT!"

Long legs moved quickly, stopped, and almost tripped. Ichigo's eyes narrowed when a little _thing_ slurred past him; halting behind Ichigo before hastily side-stepping, and turning around. Almost like a ballerina who slammed her elbows on people's gu-

And that's when realization hit him.

_Rukia!_

His brown eyes widened as they _dared _to turn to amber. The carrot top sprinted all across the football field, shoving people away, even allies, just to catch up at the little 'dancer'. Grimmjow dodged the **Center** with a high jump, making the **Center** skid through the grass with a burn. He smirked with satisfaction when Ichigo shoved him out of the way, knocking the azure-eyed lad beside the **Center**.

"What the _hell_, strawberry!?" Grimmjow yelled; arms outstretched on the dry turf.

"Midget didn't join the cheerleading squad!!" Ichigo yelled back.

Grimmjow growled. "Where is she?" he stood up and dusted himself off, the **Center** tried to do the same but was pushed back by Grimmjow's spiky shoe, painfully digging at his back. "Stay down, dammit. The parent's are talking."

Ichigo just looked on, amusement in his eyes. "She danced her ass across the field."

"F-"

"I GOT IT!!" Rukia shrieked, all heads snapped towards her, eyes staring at the sight of the football in her perfectly manicured hands. The game momentarily stopped.

"FUCK." Grimmjow finished, unknowing what else to say.

The curse word snapped the players out of their reverie, and the entertainment started again. **Defensive linemen** (now the enemy team because Rukia has the ball) raced towards the girl to tackle her and get the pigskin back, while the **Offensive** **linemen** (Kizuki and the gang because once again, Rukia stole the ball) dashed to Rukia to support her.

Ichigo was hauled up and pushed forward by Grimmjow, as the two started to _seriously_ run their ass all across the opposite field where the ballerina and the ugly ducklings were.

"2, 4, 6, 8, protect, deflect!!" Nel cheered as she sat on top of the bleachers with the cheerleaders mimicking her moves. A pose with her arms up there, tossed the pom-pom here, but the players didn't give her their attention as they charged at the running Rukia, though the cheers and the chants could very well be heard like background music.

"Before she gets wrecked, necked, recollect the subject before she gets corrected!! Reflect, all you losers there who'll get their ass injected by my boy's perfect kick-ed, unsuspected!"

Rukia's head glanced to see Nel cheering and was about to give her a thumbs up sign, or perhaps a weird look at the song she just rapped. Worse enough, Nel started yelling words to her, but it just turned out to be mouthings as she was grabbed by the ankle and-

'Don't close your eyes, you're not _supposed_ to close your eyes, you shouldn't close your eyes!' she chanted, waiting to hit the ground. 'The pain's already there so JUST CLOSE YOUR EYES!!' her jaw landed on the grass with a hard THUMP! The ball flew from her hands.

But the **Linebacker** didn't get to finish whatever he had planned; his hand grabbed Rukia's ankle and _almost_ tripped her, but he was tackled by some kind of force that Heaven knew was very pissed off right know. The **Linebacker **let go of Rukia's foot, thus making the girl last 3 seconds in the air before landing hard on the turf.

Grimmjow grabbed both the **Linebacker's** arms and put his foot down his back, pressing firmer and firmer until the **Linebacker** started screaming on the grass. Ichigo picked up the pigskin that miraculously rolled down his foot, his eyebrows furrowed irritably at the earsplitting scream that seemed to shoot through the air. He gripped the football tighter and threw it at the shrieking Linebacker's face.

"Just _shut the hell up._" He said through narrowed, flickering amber eyes. His helmet sat on the grass, a little bit of blood splattered on it when he had tackled the boy.

Everybody was silent for a minute as they watched the scene of one hostile juvenile almost ripping a Linebacker's arm off, while the other one was beyond pissed off, not even bothering to say something more.

* * *

"Coach," Kizuki called as he stepped outside the football field. The tension lifted from his shoulders once he did so and he successfully neared their coach. "I gotta tell you, even though they're good at blocking, they're _delinquents._ Criminals going to high school. They're the boys who almost killed each other last year."

The grown man didn't say anything for a second before shaking his head. "It's not that. You saw what happened."

"Yeah, everybody did! They're breaking his arm off!" Kizuki shouted in response.

* * *

Back on the field, Rukia's head shot up and started spitting grass out of her mouth. Her small hands reached up to tap where the ball was, but it wasn't there. And as soon as her amethyst eyes looked up to see where the football had gone to, the tension miraculously lightened up when they saw she was fine, and the referee was able to whistle.

"71 (Grimmjow), foul of Clipping (clipping- a block from behind and at or _below_ the waist or sumthing) and personal foul of unnecessary action to the Linebacker." The referee stared at Ichigo and gave him an 'Are you an idiot?' stare. "64, foul of using the football wrongly and personal foul of throwing it to the Linebackers face, even if he needed to be silenced."

Ichigo scowled, there was annoyance hinted but he was calming down. Grimmjow just frowned irritably. Right when things were getting so exciting, they had to cut him down.

"GRIMMY, RELEASE THE BOY'S ARMS!!" Nel ordered and called him 'Grimmy' for Grimmjow was too hard to say when your mind was concentrating to _not_ fall off on top of a pyramid.

Said boy growled, a bit of humor in his azure eyes as he pointed at the childish girl. "Do NOT ever call me that again!" but Grimmjow did as he was told.

The game stopped temporarily as the coaches and the referee argued about the penalties, the others took this time to rest. The rash boy walked towards Nel to 'talk' about the little name-giving, and just in time, caught her when she finally fell off the pyramid, and Ichigo walked over to Rukia.

"Midget." He called in a dull tone as he sat across the girl Indian-styled.

"Don't call me midget." She responded.

"You're bleeding." He pointed out randomly.

Rukia smiled. "Am I?"

"Does it hurt?" his tone changed when he noticed tears where flooding out of her eyes, but there was no pain evident when he stared at the pools of amethyst.

"What?" she asked incredulously, surprised. Ichigo removed the helmet for her and she began wiping the tears away hurriedly, and embarrassed for showing such weakness even if it didn't hurt. "No… Did it hurt when the referee gave you that idiotic stare?" she smirked, changing the subject when he scowled deeply.

"He did not!!"

"Ya-huh."

"How do you know? You face was burried on the friggin' ground!!"

She glared. "It wasn't _fully_ there! And I'm wonderful enough to have eyes at the back of my head!!"

Ichigo growled. "You amaze me." He said sarcastically. He didn't wait to point out that even if she had eyes at the back of her head, which she didn't, the football helmet would've still blocked it from view.

* * *

They talked and argued, Ichigo sometimes couldn't look away at the bruise on her chin, and Rukia pretended like it didn't hurt, well it did hurt, but there was nothing to cry about: it wasn't that serious. And right when the citrus top remembered to tell the girl not to play, the grownups decided to cut him off.

"Due to the **Linebacker's** penalty of grabbing the **Runningback's** ankle, we have decided to let you guys off. But another foul, which is very possible for you two yahoos, you will be ejected and banned from the game, is that clear?"

In other words: 'Because the **Linebacker** grabbed Rukia's freakin' ankle, it is understandable that you two went crazy and beat him up, but if you two ninnies screw up again, you are out of this game. Got it?'

Boo's and Yay's from both teams resounded through the air. A vein throbbed on Ichigo's forehead as he tried to ignore them and Grimmjow held back the instinct to go all Jeagerjaques on their asses.

Kizuki's coach was kind of apprehensive, one: because it is and was _very _fucking possible that these two would go tackling-happy again, and two: if they didn't go tackling-happy, then their blocking career was over. So what was he gonna do if the two best **Fullback** and **Tight End **ditched his team? The game only had an hour left before it was finished and without the two, they might lose.

The grown man sighed at the thought and took out his cap, ruffling his dulling black hair. There's still Kizuki and the others, right? He should have more faith. However the **running back** (Rukia) was assigned because the two hooligans looked after her (more or less), her tactful knowledge, and her barking commands. Yeah, they will definitely win! They didn't need those two... oh, who was he kidding!? They relied on Eyeshadow and Strawberry as much as the team needed the **quarterback**!!

* * *

Ichigo shoved the helmet on his head once more, as Grimmjow and Rukia beside him did the same; only with Rukia a little more gently.

"So we got 1 more hour left before this whole thing gets kicked off." Grimmjow reminded both of them as he slapped his hands on his knees from excitement. "How 'bout we fucking blow this joint?"

"'Blowing this joint isn't exactly what I was looking for," Rukia pointed out. "I simply want to beat these boys so bad that they will go to their mothers, weeping, with their fathers yelling at them to suck it up and be a man."

"Okay..., yeah, um, what the hell?" Ichigo raised a brow, the girl just frowned and stomped beside the **quarterback**. Kizuki grinned at her underneath the helmet and she did the same, only a bit uneasy. They were **playing defense now, **and in just a few seconds; the **enemy quarterback** would be calling some snaps, and they would ram unto each other like savage beasts.

"...HUT, HUT!" the **enemy quarterback** did so, and threw the ball. Red and blue clashed unto each other, pushing and shoving once again. Their feet dug into the ground as the **defensive team** (them/Ichigo and others) tried to pull back the **offensive** **team** (opponent). Ichigo and Grimmjow were too busy tackling the **Centers**, sometimes punching out their jaws and elbowing their guts.

The **enemy's running back** dashed across the field: football clutched unto the side of his chest while his arm struck forward. Grimmjow saw him go sideways of the crammed players, taking the easy way into their end zone. Azure eyes glinted as he pushed down on a random guy; bringing him down on his knees. Then, grinning mischievously, Grimmjow jumped on his back, stepping unto the guy's spinal cord -maybe even cracking a few ribs- before landing in front of the **Runningback** (miraculously), and scaring the shit out of the enemy player.

"Wh-wha, h-how did y-you...!? AHHHH!!" the boy stammered and yelled.

The coach gripped on his clipboard and almost broke it: praying to God for Grimmjow to not do something illegal to the poor boy.

The blue-haired boy's grin widened. "I jumped on your teammate's back and landed right here in front of you." The boy yelled louder in response, Grimmjow winced and was caught off guard. Seeing his chance, the **running back** quickly passed the ball to the **enemy Quarterback** in the form of a shivering throw.

Grimmjow growled as his eyes trailed after the flying Pigskin. His head snapped to the **running back,** who took another chance and ran the hell away from there. Snarling, his legs started to jog, then sprinted to catch up with the boy to maybe tackle him when the referee wasn't looking.

"Ichigo!" Grimmjow yelled, still chasing after the **running back** that was yelling merciful cries.

"WHAT!?" The strawberry boy snapped back, too busy pushing a giant man who looked too young for high school football, but was still there.

"Quarterback. Ball. GO!!" Grimmjow retorted, perhaps a little tiredly.

Ichigo finally gave up on the giant, and his brown eyes saw the **Quarterback** go by. He somehow squeezed out of the tangled limbs of the players and started power walking towards the **captain of the enemy team**. His breath was ragged as he pointed an accusing finger.

"YOU! Get back here!!" Ichigo scowled terribly and only deepened it when the **Quarterback** looked at him, then ran even faster. Ichigo held his breath and glared daggers, as his skinny legs started to run after the 'prey' that he really needed to kill right now.

* * *

Back at the ramming lines, Rukia squeaked when an **Offensive tackler** almost bashed his skull at her helmet. The two delinquents were too busy running after the **Quarterback **and the **Runningback**, even when staggering. And Kizuki was too busy giving commands for the team.

She would like to do the same, but it was very hard for a girl to even concentrate in this godforsaken, unmoving spot. So when the **offensive line **backed up, making her teammates fall forward in confusion, amethyst eyes widened when the **opposing team** decided to gather all their guys and ram themselves into them; mostly her because she was the tiniest of them all and caused all this ruckus.

Like Billy goats waiting to crush their horns into the other goats, the offensive line charged.

Go...

Going...

FUCKING GONE!

Her mouth opened to shriek but she wasn't really sure if she did, because she didn't hear any sounds at that moment. Ichigo halted when he heard her yell, and Grimmjow looked backwards when he did. Amber and Azure eyes widened at the sight...

Then BAM!

But everybody forgot that there was this knight in shining armor. This great brown horse. This fucking giant who stuck out his shoulder and waited for the **Offensive tackler** to ram his head into it, and when he did, he fell backwards unto the grass without Chad even needing to lift a finger more.

Rukia was quite stunned.

Chad looked back at her and put his shoulder down. "You alright?"

"Y-yeah." she managed to say quickly as she looked at the giant. Chad nodded in satisfaction and her eyes widened a bit as realization struck her. "I-I mean, thanks, really. I'm not sure if that was allowed in here, but thanks." she let out a smile before bowing gratefully.

Ichigo let out a sigh that he didn't know he had been holding for so long, and took his helmet to relieve him of his uneasiness. A vein throbbed on his head as Grimmjow approached him, completely forgetting about the **Runningback**.

"Why the hell is that when every time we go away, she gets herself into trouble?" The azure-eyed male asked with a frown.

Ichigo smiled bitterly. "Don't know."

"Well I do. Damned girl practically begs for it."

"Then why'd you ask?" he glanced at Grimmjow who snarled at him, biting the urge to slap the strawberry's head.

"It's called being _social_, dumbass. Don't know why people bother with it if it's too troublesome."

"It's not_ troublesome, _you just can't do it right." The carrot top pointed out with a smirk.

Grimmjow growled but dismissed the insult. The game was still playing and wouldn't wait for two, they needed to get their ass ready. "Oi, you better catch that-"

"AAAHHHHHH!!" Rukia's scream cut him off.

A tiny blur dashed past them with what looked to be the football in hand, and was soon followed by two red dots (color of opposite team). As it turned out, over the time they had conversed, Rukia had stolen the ball once again, God only knows how exactly. The girl had _tremendous_ luck but was soon losing it as the **Defensive Tacklers** caught in step with her. Chad was doing his part on the game, preventing the rest of the defensive line to catch up with Rukia.

Ichigo's eye twitched as he shoved the helmet and strapped the chinstrap on. Grimmjow growled in annoyance and did the same. "You go do whatever you were about to say, I'm about to kick me some ass."

Grimmjow frowned at the strawberry's words as he started walking, leaving Ichigo behind, and yelling over his shoulder. "Damned citrus head, don't hog all the fun."

"Yeah, well," his attention snapped as cool brown eyes glared over a certain girl who almost tripped over air and almost let herself get tackled by some guys. "Ah, fuck it." his feet started to walk faster.

"Nice choice of words." Grimmjow snickered, Ichigo scowled in response, signaling that he had heard him but is also ignoring him. His feet were jogging now.

The scene of the **Runningback's** helmet going over her amethyst eyes made Ichigo run. The helmet was a bit too big for her, but then again, almost everything was. She was small and tiny and petite. He knew that the idea of her playing was bad, BUT NO... the girl just had to do the (somewhat) right thing and join the game. And now he was stuck in this predicament, running after some girl who he only knew for about 3 weeks and 1 day, just hoping that the girl would learn her lesson and just praying that he wouldn't kill the one who taught it to her.

But the thought of beating someone because of an excuse to protect a stubborn girl, kicked off on his badass instincts and he seriously started running, more or less on the 'excuse'. And when Ichigo _really_ saw that Rukia was being tackled, badass instinct was replaced by boy instinct, if you know where I'm trying to get at.

Amber eyes flashed and his skinny legs sprinted fully. It didn't really quite help that Grimmjow was trailing behind him, same look and urge, or maybe that was the **opposing team's **demise.

So when you see two boys almost flying, or lasting in the air for a good amount of time, before pouncing on two **Defensive Tacklers** with the intent to kill, and that a girl who was wearing boy clothes almost fell to the ground, once again, don't be surprised.

And don't say it's cheesy either, it's just showing 'rare' sportsmanship... okay so it's a bit cheesy, but that's what makes it a romantic story!!

Ichigo caught Rukia's arm just in time while his other one had had a **Defensive Tackler** in a headlock. Grimmjow meanwhile squeezed the back of the other **DT player's** neck. The game stopped again, as the others anticipated what would happen next.

The strawberry tightened his hold, and Grimmjow did not release his grip. That's what happened.

"Touch her again," The orange-haired lad's tone dripped with annoyance. "And I swear I will pop your head out."

Grimmjow added nothing and the two **defensive players** didn't question the 'she' part of the sentence. The referee whistled and the coach slapped his forehead. Ichigo's voice; though low and cool, was heard by everyone... unfortunately.

"Unsportsmanlike conduct. You're not supposed to threaten him _and_ put him in a headlock, kid." The referee suppressed a twitch, Ichigo did not. "Foul. You're out of the game."

He slowly released his grip on Rukia who fell not so gently on the ground with an 'Oomph!'. Rukia scrunched her nose as she got up and dusted herself. "Release him, Ichigo."

Scowling, he reluctantly let go after she pried his fingers off the player's neck. She did the same to Grimmjow who jerked his hand more aggressively. The azure-eyed lad frowned at Rukia. "I'll get you for this."

She glared. "What did I do?"

As the two bickered and shoved each other's shoulders, Ichigo narrowed his eyes at the fallen **Defensive Tackler**. "You." he scowled. "I'm watching you." before the **DT player** could squeak in response, his glare diverted at the boy who had fallen victim to Chad's shoulder. "You too, dipshit."

Having heard this: Grimmjow suddenly laughed, surprising everyone, as his azure eyes stared at the player who had grabbed Rukia's ankle early on the game. He waited for Ichigo to go and collect his shoes, which were sprawled all across of the football field, before grinning: "He's watching you too, smartass."

* * *

Less than 30 minutes left of the game.

Ichigo is scowling on the bench.

The couch is yelling at his team.

Chad remains loyal yet neutral.

Kizuki doesn't get enough screen time as the **Quarterback**.

Grimmjow is pissed.

The girl ain't too happy either.

"Rukia…" the grown man had called for a pause to discuss their strategy. "-and Kizuki… do your stuff. Grimmjow." The blue-haired lad raised a brow. "_Please _do something miraculous." The boy just raised his brow more.

So the thing is, as said before, there wasn't really enough time on the game left, and though Grimmjow is a _very_ talented blocker, it just doesn't work the same as when he was 'partners' with Ichigo.

The players didn't really know what to do with their helpless excuse of a coach so they just marched back into the football field without coming up with a _simple_ strategy and wasting about 3 minutes of their lives. And that's a lot when you're suddenly dying, which can happen in football…

UNTIL, Rukia had a plan. Talk about _just in time_.

They were -_luckily-_ **playing offense now**. Kizuki gripped the ball hard and was waiting patiently for his teammates to get in place. As usual, Rukia was behind him, Grimmjow was just beside her, and Chad stood near the **offensive line**.

The **quarterback** eyed the referee and soon as he started the game, Rukia's foolproof but unknown plan, went into action.

25 minutes…

"HUT!" Kizuki called. Rukia ran while Grimmjow tailed her, making sure to not get the girl in trouble this time. Taking a step backward, Kizuki threw the ball to Rukia which she caught ever so gracefully, or as much as graceful football could get.

23 minutes.

Two **Linebackers** appeared beside Rukia, planning to crush her to their sides. Amethyst eyes glinted, azure ones twitched. Rukia suddenly halted with a screech, the **Linebackers** looked behind their shoulders at the girl, puzzled expressions evident on their faces.

22 minutes and 30 seconds…

BAM!

Grimmjow had dived in for the kill when there was a gap open for him to jump into. Seeing this, Rukia started running again and ever so sneakily disappeared from everybody's watchful eyes. Ichigo's eyebrows furrowed. It was either she was moving so fast, that she couldn't be seen with the naked eye, or she shrank down and was now running through the field with the height of a mouse.

"KUCHIKI!!" Grimmjow yelled, getting up and snarling as he looked all over the swarm of reds and blues. "How the _fuck_ am I supposed to block for you when you friggin' ran away!? Don't blame me if you get tackled, dammit!"

20 minutes…

'Mission 1; get Grimmjow preoccupied and stay there,' Rukia thought, smirking as she crawled on the turf. Everybody was too busy ramming each other to notice a lump was moving beside their legs. Besides, it helped to be small. 'Accomplished. Mission 2; Get Chad to help.'

She stood up with a 'huff'. Chad's eyes widened in surprise, "N-new girl?"

"Shut up and listen." She said, trying to sound polite yet demanding at the same time. "We now have less than 20 minutes to get into the lead."

19 minutes and 25 seconds.

"And?" he asked in a low voice. Thankfully, everybody was too afraid to go up against Chad one on one because of his height; leaving the two alone to talk somewhat peacefully.

"I want you to…. to launch me up into the air." And _get this_: it _wasn't_ metaphorical at all.

* * *

18 minutes and 50 seconds.

* * *

"Somehow…... I think this isn't going to work." He reasoned as Rukia shifted her weight on his arm and got a good grip on the football.

"Shut up." She said again. Where had the nice, lovely girl who had given him the Kon pencil went to? "Mission 2; Accomplished. Mission 3; just go with the flow and hope that _he'll_ get the message."

Chad raised a brow as Rukia started murmuring to herself. "You ready?" her voice resurfaced and snapped him back to reality. He nodded.

17 minutes.

"Good." She stared at the sky as adrenaline pumped throughout her body, trying to keep her nerves to calm down. Ichigo's eyebrows raised as he saw a tall boy carrying a lump of what seemed to be Rukia on his shoulders.

_What the hell were they doing?_

"Tiger direction!!" she barked.

15 minutes and 47 seconds.

"What?"

"Left, Chad, _left._" He did so and Rukia let out a strangled hiss. "MY left, Chad." He directed her again and stepped back, ready to launch Rukia. Although if she was planning to shoot across the field and score a touchdown, it wasn't going to work.

"Now, with my _abilities_," She sweat dropped at her choice of words. "And your Herculean strength, you are to launch me with _no_ hesitation and-"

* * *

Grimmjow was still yelling out curses and stomping back and forth, unknown where his supposed blockee was. Ichigo stood up with a scowl. Was he allowed to call Grimmjow and tell him that Rukia was going to launch her ass into the air, or was that cheating?

13 minutes.

"Ready….?" Her voice remained somewhat strong.

No, no, hell no. She wasn't going to do that right? What if she didn't reach it? What if she did, but she didn't know how to land? DAMMIT. He yelled inwardly as he sat back down again and drummed his fingers on his knees.

"GO!"

Everybody heard her yell, and everybody saw _something_ shooting through the air like a bullet. Only smaller.

"It's a bird!" Yelled some random person from the audience.

"No, it's a plane!" Screamed a **defensive player** from the opposing team.

"Motherfuckers, IT'S KUCHIKI!" Grimmjow bellowed, furious that she had ditched him to go among the birds. The coach grabbed on to his hat and gawked. The referee dropped his whistle. Was this even allowed!? How the hell were these kids coming up with ludicrous ideas!? Both teams gaped. The audience was silent. Nel choked on her water. And Ichigo fell from his seat, a dumbfounded expression on his face. How the _fuck _did she fly that high!?

10 minutes.

Rukia's eyes narrowed as she somehow, miraculously flew. She looked for any signs of blue hair and just hoped to God that the jackass didn't leave his spot.

"KUCHIKI!" Grimmjow pointed an accusing finger to her. Her brow relaxed out of relief. "WHAT THE FUCK- HOW THE HELL…!? GET YOUR ASS BACK-"

11 minutes and 34 seconds.

Nel spit out her water when she saw Rukia throwing the football to Grimmjow. still flying in the air. Grimmjow was knocked on the ground as the force hit him. He stared wildly at it, seeming not to know that it was a football.

7 minutes.

"RUN, **FULLBACK**!!" Nel shrieked, Grimmjow's head snapped at her.

While everybody's attention still remained on the flying girl; Ichigo bolted out of his seat, grabbed his helmet and shoved it on. He didn't care whether he was ejected from the fucked up game. There was a midget currently flying and breaking the laws of physics out here! And what was worse, it was _his_ midget.

"HEY! You're not supposed to-" The referee's trance was snapped when Ichigo ran towards the football field.

* * *

Rukia's eyes closed as she dove towards the ground.

4 minutes and 23 seconds.

UMPH!

Everybody gasped. Her head was buried down his chest and Ichigo lay splattered on the turf, wheezing for air. Grimmjow had stopped running and turned around. The referee sighed. Back in his day, cheesy miracles didn't happen so much. Nel stood there, smiling. And Kizuki was a little jealous.

2 minutes and 54 seconds.

Amethyst eyes slowly opened and looked at brown ones that had a little bit of amber in them. Ichigo flicked her on the forehead.

2 minutes and 5 seconds.

"DUMBASS! Why the hell did you do that?!" He scowled at their close proximity. They were _just friends_ so there was nothing to be awkward about. "Were you planning to fly across the field and score a touchdown?! Well if you were, that was pretty stupid! It just ended up as a distraction!!"

45 seconds.

She huffed. "_You're_ the dumbass, not me."

Ichigo's scowl deepened. "Me!? I wasn't the one who did the godforsaken stunt!!" his scowl turned into a smirk at Rukia's maddening stare. "You gotta admit though, that was pretty moronic of you. It just failed anyway."

15 seconds.

Rukia glared and poked his cheek, turning his head sideways. "Au contraire stupid, look."

EEEEEEEEEEIIIIIIIEEEEEEEE!!

The buzzer rang the moment Grimmjow slammed the pigskin on the dry grass. Brown eyes widened as Ichigo was left dumbfounded. Chad's eyes widened too. So that was what the girl was planning all along, not to fly across the field and score a touchdown, but to fly across the field, distract all the players, and pass the ball to Grimmjow. A little insane, but it somehow worked.

"Hey!!" a person from their team announced. "That blue-haired guy is on the enemy's end zone!! We won!!"

"What the hell...??" Ichigo was speechless. So was the audience, but Nel and the cheerleading squad clapped.

"I threw the ball to him when I was 'flying'." it was her turn to smirk. "Genius, huh?"

The team ran towards Grimmjow and hoisted him up: much to the azure-eyed lad's protests and threats. The rest of them walked to Rukia and helped her up, cheering all the while. They were the ones who tried to find the smallest jersey that could fit her, so of course they knew she was a girl, and they in return just acted like the 'gentlemen' they were. The crowd roared with delight as soon as they realized that Kizuki's team did win. Meanwhile, Ichigo scowled as he was left paralyzed on the ground.

"What's the matter, coach?" Kizuki walked up to the grown man and grinned, giving him a thumbs up sign. "We-"

The referee whistled, cutting the quarterback off and the crowd stopped cheering, waiting for the man in black and white to announce that Kizuki's team, had indeed won the game.

"There hasn't been-" the referee stopped talking when he felt Kizuki's coach's stare at him. The mediator turned around and glanced at the grown man, who was grinning too brightly for what was about to hit him. He should've known, after all; he was the coach. Blinking, the man in black and white continued again. A little freaked out and traumatized. "There hasn't been a game that I went to that had so many-"

"Wonderful players?" Offered Rukia.

"Excitement?" Nel suggested.

"Bullshit?" yelled Grimmjow.

"Somebody help me up, dammit!" Ichigo strained.

The referee gave each of them a weird stare. "-fouls. There hasn't been a single game that I went to in my entire life, that had so many fouls. Because the **Runningback** over there flew, which I gotta admit was pretty heroic, but I know that somehow, it's a foul. It's not in the game book, but I'm pretty sure it is. And because strawberry there went into the field when he wasn't allowed to."

"So... we... didn't win??" the coach asked.

"Well in points you did, but you're disqualified." The referee scratched at his head. "Marvelous game though, I'll give you that."

Kizuki's face fell. The coach wanted to cry. The crowd instantly lowered their banners and packed up, muttering things like: "The fuck is wrong with people today?" or "That was 2 hours and a half of time wasted from my life." The team did not have the courage to throw Grimmjow down, so instead they kept on carrying him. Nel's smile broke. Rukia sweat dropped.

And Ichigo could only scowl further. However, if he had known what awaited him for school the next week, he would've scowled _and_ furrowed his eyebrows.

* * *

**Sorry if it's too cheesy **… Ugh, gawrsh, I meant to update on Saturday but my eyes hurt. If you all didn't know this by now, I usually try to update every week. Sorry!!

**And it's NOT long**, I was just trying to be descriptive as much as this girl can get.

**Please**** tell me it DIDN'T confuse you**!! Well if it did, just review and lie that you absolutely understood it. And loved it. That's not too much, right!? Just type in some words!!

**Okay, -hyperventilating- sorry**. But isn't that purple button REALLY hypnotizing!? No? Is something wrong with you!? Wait, you said yes?! YAY!!


	7. Because he saw her face

First is the worst  
Second is the best  
Third is the hairiest  
And fourth is the beautifullest  
But if the first is her** TOMFOOLERY**,  
He may as well be her chivalry.

**Disclaimer**: Kubo Tite owns Bleach and its characters and some of the twisted scenes from here. I do not own the saying above except for the 'but if the first is her tomfoolery, then he may as well be her chivalry'. 'I'm a believer' is owned by the... uh, Monkees, right?

**Summary**: It was the way she looked at him, like she just saved a whole world rather than stopping a normal high schooler smoke, that made him slowly unwrap the Chappy themed bubblegum and eat it without a single complaint.

**Warning**: This will mostly be dialogue since nothing is really happening.

* * *

The superintendent growled irritably at the principle of Karakura High.

"Exactly, _what_ is the meaning of this?" He asked, venom dripping on his voice.

The principle cringed at his superior's voice. "Honestly, I-I don't know what-"

"They're _your_ student. You should know what their up to!!"

"Yes. We should know what they're up to in school, but nobody ever told us we need to keep an eye on them after school." The vice principal smoothly defended the principal.

The superintendent snapped his head at the protruding voice. "Oh? Very well then," he said sarcastically, arranging the tie on his neck. "What shall you do about the problem? I know I will _not-_"

The vice principal smirked. "Just leave it to us- errr, _me_. I should say."

* * *

"HEY!! What the hell!"

"Why are we even in this mess!!"

"Seriously!! I didn't do nothin-"

"SHUT. UP!" Grimmjow yelled irritably, holding the bridge of his nose, about to have a migraine. Everybody quieted down as the students rushed into the auditorium and sat down, occasionally having their ass stuck in the seat because it was like the ones in the movies, only wooden.

He peered over to Ichigo who just sat there, legs over a vacant chair below him and just whistling somewhat happily. Seriously, how could that boy even think in this noise!?

Well, I should probably tell you the problem. A _certain_ incident occurred over the weekend involving 3 _certain_ juvenile delinquents and 2 _certain_ high school girls. And then somebody (seriously, we don't know who) told that these 5 individuals attacked, thrashed, and banned a football team, thus leading into the making of 3-D, the classroom full of high school criminals-to-be (except Chad, of course. Chad is in Rukia's class and Chad is good.).

And so, here were a bunch of punks and badass students just _waiting_ to be squished inside 1 classroom.

"Oi, isn't that-?"

"Yeah, yeah, it is…"

"HOLY- we're gonna be in the same classroom as-!?"

"AWESOME!!"

"Awesome my ASS! They're seriously gonna bust-"

"DAMN IT!!" Grimmjow's vein finally snapped. "I said to shut the fuck up, didn't I!?"

"Yeah, we heard you." A boy who bleached his hair green with black highlights and styled it into those punk spikes, taunted. He was kind of stout and big (no offense) and wore a leather jacket over his uniform. Talk about tacky.

Ichigo snapped out of his happy land stupor and glared at the punk-wannabe. "I'm trying to think in here."

In all his orange glory, the legend that beat_ every_ single person in this room, everybody stared at him with incredulous looks.

"CRAP! I didn't know _he's_ joining our class too!"

"Well you should! After all, he's the one that-"

"What's stuck up your ass, strawberry?" Grimmjow asked with a raised brow, cutting everyone's murmurings.

Ichigo shook his head in return, but didn't respond.

The blue haired boy gave him a confused look. "Why're you so freakin' calm?!"

Ichigo scowled in return. "It's probably the football game. Why were here, I mean."

"You think?" Grimmjow sneered, not really listening to the principals ramblings about how he was very disappointed in all of them and that he was somewhat excited that every bad student will be stuffed in one classroom and shall no longer bother the other students. Yeah, right.

Ichigo dismissed Grimmjow's sarcasm and turned his attention to the speaking vice principal.

"There are 30, um, dawdlers," the man said atop of his head, careful to choose the right, no, non-insulting words. "Out of all the third years (there's 4 classes of third years). So, that's not to crowded, I hope."

"NOT CROWDED!?" shrieked some random punk. "That's like 8 people more!!"

Yells of agreement echoed throughout the auditorium, and when I say echoed; I mean that the sounds bounced back towards the two primarily badass.

"Ugh, dammit." Grimmjow held his head. "Damnit, dammit, dammit. They won't shut the fuck up."

Ichigo smirked in return. "Wanna skip?"

Azure eyes brightened. "Hell yes."

* * *

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

"What the hell is that noise?"

"The roof's leaking and the rainwater is dripping in, duh."

"Whatever. Hey, did you see where Kurosaki and Jeagerjaques are?"

"Why?"

"Cuz I wanna fight them."

"You serious? You gotta death wish or something?"

"I might."

Rukia scowled, hearing all these arrogant bastards talk. About _anyone_ from the entire school building could hear their cursing and yelling. She had volunteered to go down and distribute the class work for 3-D, because she had heard somebody say that all the punks were being transferred and switched to the said classroom. And also because she still had that report coming on.

She sniffed and furrowed her eyebrows. But did those birdbrains really think that they could defeat Ichigo and Grimmjow? Rukia pondered about this. Well, maybe they could if they were strong. Were they? She thought about this question as she walked down the corridor.

* * *

"We should _seriously_ be heading back." Grimmjow said, who frowned at his dripping wet clothes.

"Forgot to put waterproof eye-shadow this morning, jackass?" Ichigo smirked as he stomped forward towards the school ground.

"No, I was afraid that your hair might turn back to its normal color. But then again, I'm just _dying_ to see that."

"For the last time, my hair is NATURAL." Ichigo scowled darkly, turning around to face his 'friend'.

* * *

Rukia had trouble opening the door, probably because the paper covered her entire face and she didn't have any extra hands.

The douche bags inside the room snickered. "Quiet, quiet!! It's probably the teacher!! Oi, you got that ready?"

"Damn straight."

So what could a small, high schoolgirl do? She could call inside and say that she was a cute female who was single and needed help, and verify that she was not the teacher. But being Kuchiki Rukia, a girl adopted into a family who didn't want or need any help, even if it killed them, turned sideways and rammed her shoulder against the door that she was supposed to just slide open easily.

She winced in pain and almost dropped the papers, but luckily catching back her balance and stood up straight, dignity still left in her hidden face. She glared at the classroom door and at its occupants (in spirit). If Ichigo somehow realized that it was her and locked it, she was seriously going to bust his ass at lunch.

Rukia leaned the stack of papers against the wall and gathered all of it unto her hand (with the wall's support). Her eyes couldn't see where the door handle was so she tapped around for it.

"He's coming!" A random punk grinned, adjusting their surprise for the 'teacher',

After 30 seconds of tapping against the door, (Rukia growled, "Did they freakin' lock this or something!?") she caught the door handle, and smiling brightly, she slid it open-

SPLOOSH!

As if in slow motion, amethyst eyes widened at the sight of a bucket falling to her. Wait, yup, a bucket full of what she hoped was water was falling down to her. In just a moment, after the slow mo thing, the bucket splashed her body with cold water and the bucket hang on her head, hiding a shocked and pissed off girl about to murder someone.

The class roared with laughter and clapped their hands at the scenery, unknown that it was THE Kuchiki Rukia who tamed 3 (Chad, you have to remember CHAD!!), befriended 3, and enslaved 2 juvenile delinquents in just 3 weeks, who to others, might've been the end of eternity.

BUT that wasn't it, as the girl stood there, appalled and furious, someone slid the door open and with a grunt said:

"Move out the way."

AND PUSHED HER-

Towards a skateboard that just happened to be there. The girl tripped when the thing rolled and she landed on her knee, spraining her ankle and the paper that she achingly broke her back (literally) for flew everywhere.

Everyone laughed so fucking hard; they were oblivious to the dark aura that surrounded the girl whose head was stuck on a bucket.

"ASSHOLE!" Rukia spat angrily, kicking the man's leg and tripping him also.

"What the hell-" He landed beside Rukia, whose body was paralyzed on the floor.

"Is my problem?" She seethed for him, she shook her ebony hair, making the bucket slide off her head, revealing gorgeous, infuriated amethyst eyes.

"DUDE, IT'S A GIRL!!"

"A HOT ONE TOO!!"

The man who had tripped her, laid there, unable to move up, and entranced by her eyes. As he lay there, babbling gibberish words, he inwardly slapped himself and his brain yelled; 'DON'T MAKE A FOOL OF YOURSELF!'

* * *

Ichigo leapt at Grimmjow out of anger.

Azure eyes widened, but narrowed in a second; dodging the strawberry's punch. He turned around, smirking and was about to taunt, but was met by Ichigo's kicks.

"Why the hell are you so sensitive about your freakin' hair color!?" Grimmjow growled, but obviously enjoyed the fight.

Ichigo stopped; damn. He should've never said anything. He put his foot back and scowled. "Fuck you. I'm not sensitive about anything."

"You're going sentimental on me Ichigo." Grimmjow said with a frown.

"FUCK YOU, Grimmjow." The carrot top hissed, but stopped amidst his sentence.

"What's it now? You afraid you're gonna get a cold or something?"

"Shut up. Rukia's in trouble." His orange brows furrowed.

"How do you know?"

He never responded as his shoes stomped towards the schoolyard. It would be weird, to say that his Rukia senses are tingling.

* * *

The boy who had tripped Rukia (that's what we'll call him for now) abruptly stood up, and pretend-glared at the girl. She glared also. God, she looked so beautiful when she was mad.

"It's not my fault girly, I said move-"

"Out of the way. I know. I heard." She seethed. "But that does not mean that you are to push someone when saying it, much less a girl. What is this, the 17th century?"

He smirked back in return, amused by her choice of words. "Sorry, I didn't know it_ was_ a girl."

"So you push girls and open doors for guys? A gay one, huh? Nice (no offense)." She replied smoothly.

His face outmatched the color of his hair. "_Wh-what?!_ I said I didn't know you were a girl! T-that doesn't even make sense!!"

"Fu-" Rukia was cut off when she realized all eyes were on her.

* * *

Ichigo and Grimmjow's eyebrow rose as to why their new classroom was quiet. It was so fucking loud before, it's unbelievable that the people there would _shut up and whisper._

But they did, oddly enough.

Silently, the two crept into the room. Amber eyes suddenly flickered at the scene of a small girl with jet-black hair on the ground, talking to an _unknown stranger_ who lay beside her.

Grimmjow had to grab Ichigo and cover his mouth in order for him to be silent. He wanted to see what would happen next between red head and Kuchiki, even if it killed him (or preferably someone else.)

But azure eyes glared, and the other punks feeling that something- no, _someone_ was glaring at them, suddenly bolted up their seats and surrounded the girl with fake-concern. In their minds, _she_ was the safest thing right now.

* * *

It was understandable why all eyes were on her. 1st, she was the victim when the bucket fell. 2nd, she was injured. 3rd, she was hot. But the 4th one was the one to figure out, why were their staring at her _with_ worry? This was supposed to be 3-d, wasn't it? The one where every student was supposed to be mean and harsh and cruel and is supposed to be laughing right now, so why was everyone looking at her in concern?

She rethought about her words and her amethyst eyes sparkled dramatically as she pretend-sniffed. "Oh, I'm all right. It's just a little sprain." She glanced all around them with an innocent expression. "I just wish _somebody_ was here to kiss it."

* * *

Ichigo's eyebrow twitched. "_Kiss it_ my foot." Grimmjow nudged his back, shutting the strawberry in murderous silence.

* * *

Rukia threw the boy who had tripped her a look, and in a hissed whisper, she threatened; "Help me up right now or I swear I will make you _wish_ somebody kissed your little-"

"OKAY!" he said immediately, wondering if the girl's true personality was the sweet one or the wicked one. He grabbed her hand and hoisted her up carefully. He flung her arm on his shoulder and held her waist with a firm grip.

"Thank you, kind-"

"What the _fuck_ are you doing?" The two made their debut, everybody was silent and Rukia looked up casually as if the two were this mad everyday. Grimmjow released Ichigo with a growl.

"What's it to ya?" the redheaded boy asked with a slight smirk.

Ichigo scowled, slapping Grimmjow's arm away before the rash boy could do any further damage. "The fact that we don't know you and that you're holding her that way."

"Well maybe _you_ don't, but she does." He smirked at Rukia who was busy putting weight over her sprained ankle to notice anything or anyone.

"We don't give a damn." It was Grimmjow who spoke up.

There was authority radiating from the two boys, and clearly enough, they were somewhat or over protective of this girl. Glancing up, Rukia finally noticed all the glaring and scrunched her nose, wriggling free out of the boy who was holding her.

"Um, yeah, thanks-"

"Abarai Renji." The redhead suggested with a sheepish grin.

"Abarai-san." Rukia nodded and hopped towards the teacher's table, putting her hand there to balance her foot.

Ichigo scowled further and scratched at his cheek. "What're you doing?"

"Getting out of here, what's it look like?" Rukia snarled in return, unsure whether to let go or if she would fall down.

"It looks like you're being a helpless and pathetic midget."

She spun around and threw him a sarcastic smile. "Well if you didn't _know_ mister trying-to-be-cool-by-making-unnecessary-comments, my leg is sprained and I'm trying to get to the nurse. It'd kinda help if SOMEONE just helped me, y'know?"

Rukia stopped and realization hit her. 'SHIT.'

Ichigo's brown eyes narrowed. "You _sprained_ your ankle? How the _hell_ did that happen?"

"I tripped." She replied simply.

"On what?" Grimmjow asked with an amused smirk. Rukia threw him a glare.

"On the floor."

"You sure?" he smirked wider, watching the strawberry's face scrutinizing with annoyance.

Amethyst eyes rolled. "_Fine._ On the skateboard, _Grimmy_."

"Because what?" Ichigo snapped from his reverie and glared at Rukia.

Realizing that the girl was being double-ganged, Renji stepped in and grabbed Rukia's arms while she kind've stumbled forward in the process. "Your leg's getting swollen, here, I'll take you to the nurse."

She looked up to him. "Oh, tha-"

"Hell no you're not." Ichigo grounded his teeth. Renji only glared and walked on, leaving the carrot top in the classroom. He scowled and walked after them, but halted at the sliding door. "Take care of the class, Eyeshadow, and whatever you want to do, _make sure_ that the door is closed."

Now in normal terms, he might've growled, say a curse word, and go after them, but in _these_ terms, one could only grin. "Got'cha strawberry. Now go get your woman!!"

* * *

"No, you're okay sweetie. Besides that fact that you can't walk on your left foot for about two weeks, you're all set." The nurse smiled. Rukia sniffed, she never did like going to a doctor's appointment.

Renji found it cute and smiled also, not wanting to break the peaceful trance, Ichigo found it _fucking adorable_ but just scowled yet again. The redhead was about to help Rukia off the stool and lead her to her classroom and the citrus head was about to complain when the nurse stopped them both.

"Oh dear!" she said with calm nervousness. "Your face, it's red!!"

"Wha-?" Renji could only stare in confusedly. Oh, that's right; Rukia _also_ slapped him after he had helped her up.

"Here, sweetheart, let me get you a pack of ice and heal that nasty face." Ichigo wanted to grab Rukia and run through the hallways, laughing all the while and maybe kicking a few doors down in the process. But he didn't, no, that would be embarrassing.

Rukia just looked on with an amused face. "Uh, later Renji."

Ichigo smirked as the two left and he slammed the door behind them. Renji glared, as if he could burn holes through the door.

* * *

Rukia stared at Ichigo who was looked somewhat happy. "What's up with you?"

The strawberry stared back, having to put his head down since she was so small. "Nothin'. What's up with _you?_" he asked back playfully.

She didn't respond and was instantly locked up in her world of trying-to-get-this-damned-foot-back to normal.

Brown eyes fixed on the small girl as she walked forward, putting weight down her foot, wincing, then doing it again. Seriously, didn't she hear the nurse say that she just needed to wait for 2 weeks and it'll heal? It was kind of petty watching her like this- wait, no it wasn't. It was normal and yet a little interesting.

You could see a lot from a person based on their everyday doings, like for example: Yes, he is trying to teach you a life lesson so shut up and keep reading-

Like for example: Midget here kept doing the same stupid thing, even if she already knew what would happen, but still believed that by placing her foot down, it'll miraculously heal and pigs will soon start flying.

Ichigo snorted, also locked up inside his God-knows-what's-his-thinking brain. He was too busy analyzing and daydreaming that he accidentally bumped into Rukia, sending her forwards.

AND luckily, like in those soap operas or those cheesy stories that fan girls love to write about, he caught her. Even though she was 5 feet out of reach and plummeting to the ground with a speed of a flying racecar, he caught her.

"Goddamn strawberry, tripping an innocent girl like me…" Rukia murmured with a frown. Ichigo scowled. "How 'bout a thank you for saving your face from making out with Mr. Floor?"

"Hah. I bet you'll just get jealous." She dead panned with a smirk and continued on. "But thank you for almost injuring my leg twice today."

Ichigo grumbled cursed words. He released the grip on her arm and they started walking again, only to have the boy stumble to the girl for the second time.

"What the hell is your problem!?" she growled out.

"It's an_ accident_, Rukia. Chill." He replied smoothly, surprised that he wasn't getting annoyed or scowling by now. On normal terms, he would.

She sighed and set amethyst eyes on him. "Look. It'll be easier if you carry me to my class so your ditzy feet won't trip over me again."

Cue the intense scowling and furrowing of the eyebrows.

"I managed to make this a good day, midget."

She frowned. "You say it like it's a bad thing."

"Well it is. You've ruined it by asking me to give you a _fucking_ piggyback ride."

Rukia sniffed at the air. "Fine, then don't bother to-"

"AH! Too late!!" he cut off with a deeper scowl. "You've already ruined my day Rukia, don't make it more of a mess than it already is." He kneeled down so she could get on his back. He was _not_ going to pass off the chance of her legs against his skin.

'And maybe throwing her out the window and running the hell away.' He smirked at the thought. Rukia placed her hands on his shoulders for support and climbed on, but the moment she did so, his smirk broke.

_I thought love was  
Only true in fairy tales_

He stopped walking and Ichigo swore he heard music starting to play somewhere.

_Meant for someone else  
But not for me_

Orange locks drifted, searching for the source of the music.

_Love was out to get me  
That's the way it seems_

'Where the hell is that coming from!?' He gritted his teeth as his legs slowly started to walk.

_Disappointment haunted  
All my dreams_

He felt a burden on his right shoulder and his body tensed. Slowly he turned his face to meet Rukia's dozing one.

_And then I saw her face_

'Damned girl.' He scowled.

_Now I'm a believer_

'Am not.'

_Not a trace_

'Trace of what?'

_Of doubt in my mind_

'Fuck you.'

_I'm in love_

Ichigo gritted his teeth in annoyance. 'The classroom's right there, Ichigo. Just a few more steps….'

_Oooh……_

He lifted his arm to knock.

_I'm a believer_

He hesitated. 1 second. 2 seconds. 3 sec-

_I couldn't leave her_

A vein throbbed on his head. 'Do it, idiot. DO IT! Knock on the freakin-'

_If I tried_

'Damn you. Damn you to hell.' He glared inwardly to the song and its choice of lyrics.

_I thought love was  
More or less a given thing_

Ichigo trudged on. If he wasn't going to her classroom, then where to?

_The more I gave the less  
I got, oh yeah_

He found himself whistling to the song a moment later. He stopped, glared, and walked again. 'Shit….'

_What's the use in trying_

Rukia cuddled to his neck, like it was some sort of pillow; her breath tickling his somewhat sensitive skin. He didn't jerk or had a sudden realization that he loved her. Ichigo just sighed and walked on. This, seriously, couldn't happen. Because-

_All you get is pain_

'Damn right' orange hair bounced as he nodded.

_When I wanted sunshine  
I got rain_

Amethyst eyes suddenly perked.

_And then I saw her face_

"Where're you going? We passed my classroom!"

"We're skipping." Ichigo replied simply. Was it a disease, the citrus head wanted to ask, when your heart started beating a little faster just because she's talking to you?

_Now I'm a believer_

'No. Not yet, not EVER.' He persuaded his brain so.

_Not a trace_

"Were skipping? What?!" she practically shrieked, wriggling from her position on his back.

"You deaf or sumthing? I said it clear enough." He muttered.

She calmed down. Rukia was not scared of skipping classes- errr, well, mostly. "You sure?"

"Pretty sure I don't have any signs of-"

_Of doubt in my mind_

He paused talking and scowled irritably when the music reminded Ichigo that it was still there, and yes, it will still annoy the hell out of him.

_I'm in love_

"Signs of what?" Rukia raised a brow.

Ichigo's eyebrows furrowed. "I'm not in love."

"I didn't say you were!" Rukia growled.

_Oooh…_

_I'm a believer_

_I couldn't leave her_

_If I tried_

"Right." He let out a breath and unknowingly smirked at the small girl who gave him a puzzled look.

_What's the use in trying?_

_All you get is pain_

Ichigo opened the double doors with the side of his arm, leading to the outside perimeter of the school.

_When I wanted sunshine_

Only to be met with cold water, dripping harshly into their skin.

_I got rain_

He scowled. "Let's go back, it's freakin' raining-"

_Then I saw her face_

Rukia looked up and smiled eagerly. "Idiot, a rain never hurts anyone." She smacked him on the head.

_Now I'm a believer_

"But you'll get wet and I'm fucking carrying you." He scowled.

"So?" she asked, totally missing his hints.

_Not a trace_

"A lot of people say… that rain's… kind of depressing." he said finally. Ichigo never really liked it in the first place.

_Of doubt in my mind_

Rukia frowned. "But whoever said that happiness came with the sun setting and rising,"

_I'm in love_

She smirked and closed her amethyst eyes. "Is a fool."

_Oooh…_

"Life's not about waiting for the storm to go away,"

_I'm a believer_

"It's about getting out there,"

_I couldn't leave her_

"And dancing in the rain."

_If I tried_

Ichigo's eyes widened a bit, stunned by her words. But the moment of admiration was cut off quickly when cool brown eyes narrowed with mischief and he dropped her with a 'THUD!'

_Then I saw her face_

But what Rukia, did, was not what he expected. Instead of fuming with anger, she dropped back down, her back splashing on a puddle. And the craziest of all, she looked so godamned peaceful.

_Now I'm a believer_

She lay there casually, like she did this every single day

_Not a trace_

Ichigo scowled.

_Of doubt in my mind_

But did the same thing as she did.

_Now I'm a believer_

One could only guess why the hell he did it.

_Yeah, yeah, yeah  
Yeah, yeah, yeah_

* * *

"I'm telling you, jackass, there's this song that popped into my head." Ichigo said with a frown.

"You're going crazy, strawberry." Grimmjow gave him a look.

Lunch came by fast and they were currently loitering at the rooftop. No one knew what Grimmjow did to those poor wannabe-punks, but they sure as hell knew why Renji was here with them. And they were quite pissed off about it too.

"Shut up." He growled in response. "Don't know why but it came every time-"

The door suddenly opened and Rukia came in, walking beside her was Nel. The jet-black haired girl smirked as she folded her arms.

"I see you befriended Renji."

"I don't wanna hear anything from you, Ms. I-think-I-can-just-do-this-without-getting-into-trouble. NADA!" Grimmjow bellowed, his finger pointing accusingly at the small girl. Nel slapped his hand away and the azure-eyed lad jumped.

"What the fuck-"

"It's not polite to point." The green-haired girl said simply.

"I don't want to be polite."

Quickly leaving the two to bicker, Renji stood up and approached Rukia with one of his trademark, sheepish grins.

"There's gonna be a 'celebration' in our class since the principal said that 3-D was successful," he began uneasily. "He said something about badass punks finally being able to leave the students alone."

Rukia wasn't really paying attention as her gaze somehow drifted to Ichigo. "Really?" she asked half-heartedly.

"Yeah."

As the two conversed, Ichigo took a quick glance at Rukia and immediately scowled when she looked back at him and smiled.

_I'm in love,_  
_Ooh,  
I'm a Believer,  
I couldn't leave her,  
If I tried_

The godamned song just wouldn't leave him alone today.

* * *

**Uh, yeah… Sorry if I didn't get to update**. I got the Sims 2 and lemme tell you that stuff is addicting and I got grounded for… reasons that I shall not tell you. Minor stuff though.

**Ya, so, umm, is it mushy gushy** enough for ya? Funny enough? Yes? GREAT! Review then!!


	8. Subway, IN THE FLESH!

When a guy says hey,  
You can make my day,  
By saying the following away:  
I'm not in the mood for **TOMFOOLERY**,  
Neither your face nor your baboonery,  
Don't forgot to call me up,  
So I can give that bastard a 'sup'

* * *

During the past few days, Ichigo had been really mad.

There's a reason why I separated the sentence from everything else; coz it's important. But anyways, here are the few things that can make an orange sourer than it already is:

1. When a certain_ someone_, and yes, whoever pops into your mind who is hopefully that particular _someone_ that I'm talking about, is the_ someone_ that I'm mentioning, starts using the orange crayon too damn much and saying that it's that _someone's_ particular favorite color.

2. When that particular _someone_ starts eating strawberries too damn much

3. When another someone, -and no, there's a difference with this 'someone' to this _someone, _get it right- points it out.

4. That he's actually noticing it too and that certain _someone_ just acts all innocent and has no shame.

5. When that damned song starts playing when the damned sunlight hits that certain _someone_ like a spotlight would with an actor/skater/entertainer/goddess. Which he totally thought that she wasn't. And which he totally thought that, 'No you fucking morons, I'm not in denial. It's far too soon for that!'

6. When he starts talking to himself.

And last but SERIOUSLY not the least, in fact the BIGGEST:

When that certain _someone_ that caused all this bullshit, just drew a pineapple in perfect form -whilst that _someone's _oranges looked demented- and colored it red IN FRONT OF HIS FACE. And suddenly started drinking pineapple flavored juice, which that_ someone_ thought is absolutely deli-

"Who in the fucking world, colors pineapples red anyway." Ichigo gritted his teeth. It was not a question, but a statement.

"What? Doesn't it look cool?" Rukia responded.

Renji grinned. "I think it does."

"Quit being a suck up." Grimmjow frowned. Ichigo was thankful that never once did she draw blueberries or drink any blueberry-flavored juice, if there was one. But seriously, _who_ in the fucking world would color pineapples red? Was this her nature, or was she just doing this on purpose to irritate the hell out of him? Well if she was, HAH! You fail; he was _not_ the least bit irritated and-

"Can you _quit_ doing that?" Ichigo seethed.

"Doing what?"

"Coloring."

Rukia frowned and looked at her picture. "But it's not finished yet."

"I don't_ care_!" he said, voice rising. "Just don't do it in my face! Draw at your house, for Pete's sake!" Ichigo swore, that if she drew a body for the red pineapple, he would steal that drawing pad of hers and fling it out of the rooftop.

* * *

And now we were back to the present, the present of which Ichigo had gotten a stick out of nowhere and started drawing on the rooftop dirt, and Nel was someone disciplining Grimmjow, and Renji was talking to Rukia, and that song in his head still played.

-Wait, wait a minute.

Cool brown eyes diverted and his stick snapped.

"D-did you just ask her out?"

* * *

"The 'celebration' is at 6:00, when all the activity buses leave outta here," Renji grinned. "You wanna come and hang out, just, like, y'know- friends…?"

"Friends?" Rukia mimicked.

"Ya, sure!" His grin widened. "So you comin' or what?"

Rukia looked up at the sky, no not because it was so beautiful and stuff, because it just happened to be the only thing that was above. She placed her index finger on her chin and tapped it. "Why not?"

"Great. Meet you here at 7-ish?"

She gave him a sideways look. "I-I have to ask Nii-sama first though, and if he says no, I can't come, so I won't promise anything."

He became aware of it, she still looked headstrong but was a bit hesitant, and his eyebrows rose to it. But not wanting to let the chance pass, Renji decided to shrug off the idea until after the 'party'. "Cool, whatever. S'okay."

She nodded and turned towards her heels, now having the strong girl act. "Nel, I'm going to the cafeteria. You can just… stay here, and, err, what are you doing to Grimmjow?"

* * *

Renji turned, Grimmjow looked up.

"Yeah," he answered slowly but started nodding and smiling. "Yeah, yes, yes- never really thought about it." And of course, Renji was being modest… somehow.

"Never thought you'd annoy me more." Ichigo murmured with a scoff. He couldn't believe it; he freakin' couldn't believe it. That she would date, -no maybe that was too strong a word, it is- that she would agree to go out with some punk that she barely even knew. Okay, so he was also a punk, maybe more, hell yes a lot more, but she knew him more than that freakin' redhead.

Okay, maybe not so much, but they met each other everyday during lunch; _okay fine_ they didn't talk together enough. Arguing, my dear friends, is not the same as talking, and maybe that pineapple and her shared a few things when they were conversing. Maybe a lot, maybe he should just stop thinking about this right now.

"Watch your ass later." Grimmjow growled and pointed at Renji who raised an eyebrow.

Nel whacked his hand; the azure-eyed boy winced and pulled it back. "How many times-"

Ichigo glared at Renji, not with daggers because _why_ would he glare daggers at him when the guy never really did anything? And goddammit, no! For the last time, he was not in denial! During of all the times he glared, why in the world would you pick this time and accuse him of being in denial because he was just glaring? What about when his mother died? When his sisters got sick? When he started smoking?

She was kind of like a big/little-sister/caregiver-acting-like-a-hostile-mom/acquaintance to him, and it was normal for friends to watch out for each other's backs and it was normal for the guy friend to look out for strangers who doesn't even know his chick friend but asks her out for a date, and maybe kick his ass a few times to make things clear. No, he's not going to ask you if he was right, because you'd say 'No, only _lovers _do that and_ hell, _he wasn't anything close to a lover. AND YES, he was satisfied with that.

Just thinking about these thoughts, made his fingers dig deeper into the gray dirt. Renji, _seriously_ better be watching his back tonight.

* * *

Rukia glanced back and forth, waiting for the cars to stop or slow down a bit. Why was she even nervous anyway? All her schoolmates did this everyday, it was a common thing, even 11-year olds could do it, so why was it so hard for her to cross the friggin street? If anyone was to blame, blame the orphanage and her sheltered lifestyle.

"Yeah, um, left, right…" she turned her head. "Gah…! They teach you French but they don't teach you how to cross the street. Great, just great."

* * *

Ichigo grunted as he trudged on. Keigo and Mizuiro somehow popped up and got to walk beside him. Those two were _always_ together, why? He snorted at this.

"Yo Ichigo!" Keigo greeted with a grin. Ichigo looked at him, addressing that: Yeah, he knew he existed.

"You going to the 'celebration'?" Mizuiro changed the subject easily with a polite smile. Ichigo shook his head. "I thought that was only for 3-D."

Keigo suddenly jumped, stopping the other two from walking any further. The carrot top glared and wasn't curious, the fool always did this everyday so what was anything to be curious about?

"They're offering a _party_, Ichigo. You should know by now that if there's a party we're there," Keigo paused a bit. "And so are most of the junior students."

Ichigo just shrugged it off. That was normal. Probably. "You got a date, Mizuiro?"

"First-year college women. Two." The raven-haired lad said casually. Ichigo almost broke his neck when he turned to glare at the playboy.

"Damn you!" Keigo cried suddenly, throwing himself to Mizuiro's leg and latching upon it, still sobbing. Mizuiro looked at Ichigo. "How about you? You sure you're not going? I can get you a date…."

Ichigo scrutinized his eyes when Keigo jumped at Mizuiro, brown irises focused on a girl with jet-black hair, her foot stepped into the freeway, then stepped back. Step in, step back, step in, step back. He wanted to laugh at this but decided not to because it was stupid to laugh out of nowhere.

He left the other two when Mizuiro offered him something; Ichigo didn't quite hear it as his feet started walking towards the hesitant girl.

Mizuiro stopped at his sentence and shook it off, smiling undoubtfully when his eyes settled on Ichigo's back, making way towards some girl.

"Kuchiki Rukia, eh?"

Keigo jumped at the playboy's words. "WHAT? WHO!?"

* * *

Rukia exhaled with her eyes closing, and snapped them back open again. She stared at the street with slight determination or that she was really getting impatient with the chances of her being run over by cars or not, which by the way; thank you Lord, thank you. "Okay let's get this over with. Look-"

A chill ran up her spine when she felt that somebody was standing over her. Maybe not chilly, she felt like fuming, rather. "Look-, look-, _look_-." She couldn't concentrate as anger boiled up inside of her. She knew too well that it was him, making fun of her height by towering over her.

Rukia spun around in her heels and bumped directly into his chest, sending the short girl staggering backwards with a slightly pink nose. She had to look all the way up, and she _hated_ doing that, in order to see his face, but the sunlight got into her eyes and she had to look back down and settle into glaring at the pavement.

"Boo." He said, grinning lopsidedly.

She stuck up her tongue at his bright-colored hair.

"Idiot, it's a freeway. You can't cross it, you have to walk on the friggin' sidewalk." He changed the subject, grin getting wider. "This your first time?"

Rukia paused, then replied slowly. "No…. NO! I-I walked a lot of times before!"

"You walked enough to know that we gotta take the subway?" She gave him an incredulous look. "Subway?"

"Oh, my fault," Ichigo said sarcastically, resting his hand to his chest. "In upper-ass terms, it's called an _underground metro station_. It's usually the fastest way, but DAMN, it's dangerous. Girls like you should just ride their pink bikes with the basket or take the 2-mile walk train station."

She clicked her tongue at him and gave a sassy stare. "It's not _that_ dangerous if an idiot like yourself can handle it. Oh, and the term is_ aristocrat._"

Ichigo scowled. "Cute. But seriously, it ain't something to joke about. Molestations there are _just _considered accidents," he scowled deeper. "So you can't even fit into that peaches and cream brain of yours what's actually considered a crime. Where the hell is your driver anyway?"

"I decided that I wanted to walk." Rukia replied simply, swinging her schoolbag around the air.

"For the first time? Why?" Ichigo sneered. "Want to impress Renji or something?"

Rukia glared as she crossed her arms. "Maybe I do."

He growled and walked past her, purposely or _un_purposely bumping the small girl's shoulder with his arm. "Bitch around if you want, just…" he scowled. "Whatever."

* * *

Maybe it was a bad idea when he asked her that. Ichigo thought as he stood in the center, squinting his eyes to see which one was his train. Ugh... they needed to make those signs bigger, goddamn cheap subway...

As people rushed past him, his track of mind went back to his earlier thoughts. No, no, the bad thing was her answer. I mean; would she _seriously_ do that to impress that godforsaken pineapple head? Walking home, wasn't really a big thing, but if you were some rich girl who always had a driver every single freakin' day and had servants every waking moment, and hasn't even heard of subways without it being called 'an underground metro station', yes, it was _PRETTY_ DAMN big.

Ichigo scoffed at his broodings. For a successful, high school punk-slacker, his thinking pattern was pretty pathetic and... well, sensitive. DAMN! He was going sentimental! Dammit, dammit, dammit...

His Chuck Taylor shoes squealed as he walked into the train and gripped on the handle that swung loosely. His other hand reached out and ruffled the orange mess and his brown eyes closed. Augh, stupid bright lights, causing him a migraine.

The train wheels started and the train slowly moved, but the door still remained open, waiting at least a good 30 seconds for any late passengers. Ichigo's eyes opened again, and instantly narrowed.

* * *

Don't ask, just how the hell, in the entire crowd bustling through and fro the subway, his eyes somehow managed to find a girl who was casually sleeping inside a train just across from him, her ebony locks leaning against a thick, rusty metal that was supposed to serve as a wall. And don't even go there, on why his feet squeaked yet again, signaling that he was ruining a good pair of shoes for some girl.

Ichigo growled, his pace quickening; yet each step was slow, steady, and hard, thumping into the metal floor. What he hoped was a man with random intentions, who had seated himself next to the girl, -a little too close for what Ichigo might've liked- was indeed a man with random intentions.

Well of course the man wouldn't be having random intentions! The jet-black haired girl was already wearing a fur-lined vest in the first week of October, indicating that she was _very_ rich, and does he need to remind himself that molestations are just accidents here?

Anger boiled up inside of the teen and he kicked the rusty old door, it slid open and he stomped on in, glaring at everyone who dared look his way.

Ichigo scowled at the man who seated next to the sleeping Rukia. "Move or I'll kick your ass."

"You can just sit there, boy." The man retorted at him and pointed to the seat across from them.

Ichigo scoffed. "Back talking bastard, see if you can still live after I'm done with you." He muttered and squished his bag between the old man and Rukia like some sort of barrier, well at least _something_ would be in between them.

Rukia awoke to the insane rattling of leather squeezing into her side. Amethyst eyes perked up and blinked, with the tears of a good slumber being abruptly disrupted at the sides of her eyelashes. Ichigo swore that the man wanted to do, whatever it was that he was planning to do to her, more.

The orange-haired teen sat back down, releasing his grip on his bag and leaning into the hard metal called a bench, allowing the girl some time to yawn and focus her eyesight.

Growing with impatience, Ichigo scowled. "You only slept for minutes, how long are you going to take?"

Rukia stopped mid-stretch. "Ichigo? What are you doing here?"

He scowled deeper. "No, what are _you_ doing here? I already friggin' told you that this was a bad place, the hell is wrong with your brain?"

Before Rukia could speak, Ichigo diverted his attention to the musty old man, who by now he just noticed had a stubble and crooked, yellow teeth, smiling weirdly at her. His mood couldn't get any better than this. "You. Leave."

"Why should I?" the man turned to Ichigo and back-sashed.

"It's a private conversation, please do so." Rukia said casually, perhaps a little coldly he liked to think.

"No can do, babe. _This _is my spot." he made a move to tuck in one strand of hair behind Rukia's ear- when the girl leapt and seated herself next to the scowling boy, who by now had flicking brown-to-amber eyes.

"When something happens," Ichigo scoffed, not looking at her but glaring at the man. "Don't come crying to me."

Rukia frowned and grabbed his bag, hiding half of her face with it. "Shut up, you'll probably just bust in there, just a little late, but in time." She smirked.

Ichigo smirked at her too, it's amazing how the girl already had this much trust towards him, even though he was a high school delinquent who by now could've snapped her arms in four, even though they just met, and even though they knew nothing of each other, and was as good as being strangers.

He decided to take advantage of the situation, meaning to drag his point across and piss her off more.

"What happens when I'm- we're-, not there? Then where'll you be? In an alleyway, or a secluded old apartment?" He hoped he was joking when he pretend-snickered.

"You will." she reassured.

His fake smile faltered and he scowled. "That's not reality midget," he answered. "We're not always gonna be there, life's not always peaches and creams. Don't expect some knight in shining armor to come there, this ain't no fairytale." he rested his cheek on his palm, staring at her next expression. Maybe he was taking this too seriously.

"I can take care of myself, Ichigo." Rukia said, lowering the bag as she stared back at him, eyes darkening, and voice rising.

"No you can't. Compared to these guys, you're just'a stick with fancy decorations!" He was.

"I'm not weak!" she roared suddenly, everyone's attention snapped towards them. "You don't even know me!" She whipped her head towards him.

"Goddamit Rukia, that doesn't fuckin' say that you're gonna be here tomorrow if I hadn't come! You don't even know how to ride a damned train, and hell, besides all that shit; you were friggin' sleeping!" Okay, you should seriously stop now Ichigo. Stop. Seriously. You're making a huge deal out of this.

Rukia just glared at him, her eyes intensified with such hate, that he wondered if he uttered another word, if she would leap at him and claw his face out. She was normally a calm girl, with the kind of cool temper, but this subject just seemed sensitive to her. She whipped her head again, turning to the other side, and refusing to argue with him further, it hit his sleeve sharply, making Ichigo flinch slightly.

You know how when you're kinda mad, how you start to reminisce instead of trash talking the person you were mad about, and then you start to feel all guilty and maybe reconsider what you did? Well that wasn't happening to Rukia, the latter at least.

_'I'm sorry,'_

There were only three things in her mind that moment: apology, forgiveness, and guilt. Okay, that was a bit corny, but seriously, as dramatic as this sounded, she really did feel bad... not bad like her heart was being torn or her stomach felt like churning and doing a flip, or that tears were already falling out of your eyes, without you even noticing. No, because seriously, you can't feel _none _of these, it's just some fancy talk for dreamers.

_'I'm really sorry'_

It's the feeling of your heart, _yes_ the one that pumps out the blood into your veins, not that v shaped one- being dragged down into your stomach, like it was falling. _Falling_, not hurting or crushing or breaking. Falling, swelling, going down.

_'You can blame me if you want, because I did it with my hands'_

She didn't close her eyes, because unlike in the movies, closing your eyes when you were leaning against a railing was... weird. Real people didn't do that, that's just strange- odd. But real people _did_ reminisce, like she was doing right now. Talking to herself and blaming herself. All of that was, you gotta admit, normal.

_'I didn't want to believe in fate and destiny and all that crap, but the load's too much, kid's gotta blame someone besides herself, y'know' _

She was sorry and wanted forgiveness, she hoped that he, his family, and his wife, understood that it was just an accident. A tragic one, yes, 'but it had to be done'- Ukitake-san, his boss, said so, yet she didn't really believe that. So in afterlife, right now, if he had been glaring down at her and cursing at her that he could've had a nice life and could've had children and that she should've been there instead of him, she understood. It was okay if he blamed her, really, it was.

_'It's just that- they're so screwed for even planning this to me. These tiny fingers, just like what that idiot said, are weak and wasn't made to hold a damn figurine sword_'

* * *

A woman shreds Rukia's profile and stamps into a piece of paper.

**Kuchiki Rukia**

**Your ideal student.**

**Actually has a really sad, albeit mysterious past. Who knew?**

**Can still kick your ass AND your friend's ass.**

* * *

Ichigo looked at Rukia, who had been silent for the past few minutes. See? His conscience told him to stop, but no, he just had to go on, which reminds me:

* * *

THUMP!

A woman threw Ichigo's old profile and stamped a new one.

It read on fine red ink:

**Kurosaki Ichigo**

**Delinquent student yet maintains his spot as the 25th smartest kid at junior level**

**Has two conscience: one is sappy and the second is his evil alter ego. It's not really a surprise if an angel and a devil appeared on his shoulder right now.**

**Officially addicted to Chappy-related bubblegum.**

* * *

The train rode on, passing tiled walls and gliding through the track effortlessly, giving the impression that it was flying. The occupants inside were silent, watching the next scene to unfold.

He sighed and wanted to become quiet and just drown in his sorrows instead of facing them, just like she, but he couldn't. He was _male_ and girls believed that it was their jobs to fix everything that they broke, be it appliances, tables, uncomfortable moments in trains, frowns of midget girls. He had to do it because he was a guy, and he was... dash-dash-dash-dash struck?

Ichigo slumped and placed one leg atop his knee, remembering her words:

_"You don't even know me!"_

That was true, as much as he wanted to deny it and deny to say that he wanted to admit it, because really, he didn't want anything. He knew nothing of her, and she of him, so who was he to make every goddamn minute spent with him a scene stripped off a romance-comedy and protect her like his life depended on it like this? And who was she to get him all angry and yet at the same time make the organ that beats, beats faster- like this?

Fuck it, high school life had been a whole lot dramatic and complicated since they shook hands.

"Damn you, midget." he seethed, tone laced with sarcastic humor. "You win."

Rukia turned and gave him a quizzical stare. She didn't really win, in fact, he did, but as mentioned before, he was the guy and she the girl, therefore... well you get it. At least here, he could be the less stubborn and more cooperative one.

His turned towards the window, refusing to meet the audience's mushy stares. Damn, why couldn't they just mind their own business? This ain't no soap opera.

'It's turning to one,' he scowled and glanced back at Rukia through the corner of his eyes. "Just call me when you need me, 'kay?" the last past made him sound like he was some kid in an RPG, and there was an, let's say _mature _woman, that he really _admired_ and he wanted to be reassured that she was gonna live.

Everyone clapped once Ichigo finished his somewhat touching sentence with a grin-scowl. It was amazing how they fought, made up, and got into fought again.

("What if I want to meet the 'bad guys'?"

"I'ma kick their asses."

"What if they become my friend?"

"I'ma kick their asses more."

"What if I like them?"

Ichigo could only give Rukia a stare.)

* * *

**Just a filler since, like, I haven't written for how many days**. Yeah, sorry but I was really busy! I guess that'll cost me some reviews, buy REVIEW ANYWAY!

**Say how corny and dreamy this is** **or whatever**, or angsty, whatev, so I'm relying on you Sierra77! Since she seems to be the totally romance type, kudos to you!

Y**ah, next story scene is coming right up**! And also, I'm starting a new story, hopefully I won't be too lazy to update…

**Oh yah, I use too much unnecessary sentences and words, I know**. But you know what story ahs more words and unnecessary sentence? Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens, my darlings. Try to read that damned book, it's freakin' confusing… so um, I'm just trying to be like him, don't know why though…

**Um, yes, I forgot, sorry about Rukia's sooo dramatic reminiscence**. I made it too long and... saddish, than I might've wanted but... that might bring her character down, but hey, she held a sword! That's _gotta _count for something.

**Uh, err; just review and it'll brighten my day** just like what it says on the top, if you actually read that stuff.


	9. Shitfuckdamn!

Boys always act on TOMFOOLERY

Boys always act on **TOMFOOLERY****  
**Yet he's not the type to feel jealousy  
But you're the girl, especially  
That will make him do ludicrous things  
Au-to-ma-ti-cal-ly

**Disclaimer**: Don't own Ryou's saying!! And Bleach.

* * *

Renji loitered near the student parking lot, kicking at random cans and sometimes whistling snappy tunes, in a clad of green sleeves, brown fisherman's vest, and jeans. He wondered if Rukia's brother had said yes, or if she instead snuck off. He far wondered if he had enough hold on his temper to stop the killing urges he gets, every time the students started whispering about him. He already wore a fucking bandana what else do they want!

Rukia's flats thumps towards Renji, making the redheaded teen turn over in a spin. He blinked at her and she stared at him through half-lidded eyes. She probably had to go like that every day, since her eyes were so damn huge. But they were cute, so that was an exception. And they'd sparkle too.

"Hey," she greeted.

"Sup" he greeted back.

"Waited long?"

"No." liar.

Rukia smirked. "Good, because it took a lot to convince Nii-sama and it'd be a waste if you ditched."

"Me? Ditch you? Hey, that's not a bad idea." he grinned triumphantly; Rukia punched him on his shoulder before stomping towards the school. His grin widened as he rubbed the sore spot and followed suit. What was great about this girl was that you could never have awkward moments with her. _'Damn, she hit me hard.'_

She glanced back at him from behind. "Where's the others?"

He shrugged. "They're coming." but just let me have 10 more minutes.

* * *

Ichigo swore that he said he wouldn't come, right? Wouldn't. Opposite of would, promise of will not. So why the hell did he find himself sneaking off out of his own house? Okay, like, why was he sneaking out when he could've just used the front door? Because his goddamned father wouldn't let this go for years: him going to a high school event was like a cockroach living with its head off- wait, that's possible.

DAMN!

He hissed when he struck his foot with the iron gate. The bars gave out and the gate swung open, making seriously, unnecessary creaking sounds.

The light in his little sister's bedroom opened and Yuzu screamed out; "Who's there?" for a nine year old, she sure was one paranoid little girl.

* * *

Loud music blared in and out of the windows, plastic cups littered in the floor among with other uncared for beverages, students danced like nobody was watching and forgot the tiny bit of detail that they were in THE delinquent classroom.

So as soon as Renji and Rukia's foot stepped inside, they couldn't really believe that the teacher would allow them to put colored light bulbs in, since- hey, it's a _celebration, _not a party.

A random, perhaps drunken girl, -because it was _real__ly_ _not_ unusual to spike the punch bowl these days, and if you _didn't_ spike the punchbowl in high school anythings, THAT was considered unusual- made her way across the dance floor -where the students danced, Rukia would've gawked if there was any real dance floor- and into the arms of Renji after she had pretend-fell.

"Hey big guy," the girl said seductively, holding unto Renji's shoulder for support, or joy because she was really gripping them tight. "Hunk like you got a girlfriend yet?"

"I-" Renji turned to his side to maybe ask Rukia if he should just leave the poor girl there or bitch-slap the drunken girl for even saying anything in front of the girl of his dreams (Rukia), -of course he would never say the 'girl of his dreams' part and just replace it with 'being rude'-. He paused when he realized she wasn't there, not getting drinks, not dancing, not talking, literally _not_ in the classroom. Renji frowned further once he saw blue hair diverting around students or sometimes pushing them to 'get outta the way, dipshit!' just for the hell of it.

He turned back to the girl and smirked. "You finishing that drink?"

The girl smiled back feverishly and grabbed his collar, leading him into the deeper part of the room; Renji rolled his eyes at her sudden antics. Wow. Girls could be _such_ sluts.

* * *

Grimmjow dragged Rukia outside the classroom of 3-D, outside of the school, and just beside a wall, trying to lurk into the shadows with only their head popping into the moonlight.

"It's rude to drag people away from their companion." Rukia bluntly said, Grimmjow still didn't release her hand, perhaps in fear that she would whack him in the head or kick him in the vulnerable area, -or both since she was that kind of girl and hell yes it was very likely- for forcefully dragging here her and cursing throughout the whole joyride.

Still, being the ultimate rash and manly boy that he was, "Hn." Grimmjow grunted in response.

Rukia frowned in return. Now Renji's gonna be all upset with her and would randomly take the anger out of Grimmjow, and _of course _Grimmjow's GONNA want to fight him, then Ichigo's gonna somehow join the fight, and she'll be the one who'll have to clean all their blood up. _Thank you _Kaien-dono for making this job so friggin' hard.

"What do you want?"

Grimmjow turned to her, being snapped back to reality by Rukia's words. Wow, that was a first. He gave her a somewhat childish look and then growled, gripping the edge of the wall so inhumanely it might crackle and turn to dust. Whatever happened to him, he was acting all pissy about it.

Which was why Rukia said so and Grimmjow snarled more, and in a seething voice asked; "Where the _fuck_ were you?"

Rukia was confused. "What do you mean '_where the fudge'_ was I?" she mocked.

"Why didn't you go with her?"

"Go with who?"

"Veggie head." Grimmjow said simply, fully turning to her thus erasing his body from the moonlight and into the darkness. As the writer, I would like to say that he did it coz he was feeling... somewhat embarrassed, as a fan; I'd fucking love to say he had a blush, but seriously, no. He didn't have any of those, just a nasty frown etched on his pissed of face.

"Why'd you want me to go-"

Her eyes kept on moving right, and damn, Rukia knew she should've never looked. It was obvious that Grimmjow was mad about a subject that hovered around veggie head- err, Nel. So um, yeah, it was kinda bad when Rukia moved too far from the comfort of the dark shadows, leading half of her body to be shown to Nel who just popped out of nowhere, and yelled hi to Rukia with a guy trailing after her. What was worse was that there was a chainsaw-massacre-to-be right beside Rukia, who, again, was now sensitive around veggie head- dammit- Nel.

"Uh, hi Nel-chan..."

As wicked and _spicy_ she might've appeared to be, Rukia Kuchiki: 'Midget' called by Ichigo Kurosaki, 'weakling' described by Ichigo Kurosaki, 'has a peaches-and-cream pattern of mind' stated by Ichigo Kurosaki, had every reason to be afraid because seriously, a guy who might be Japan's next most wanted criminal and STILL LIVE, was standing right next to her. So yes, pretty much, she was entitled for the option of stealing glances at Grimmjow's maniacal face, to see if he was in murderous rage _right about-_

"Who's the trim, young boy walking with you?" Rukia still had a façade to protect.

"Oh, this?" Nel asked back with a smile. Truly like a child; so naïve, so innocent, so _damn_ lucky.

_Right about-_

"This is Oreao-kun!!"

Hint #1: ACCOMPLISHED. Rukia had a slight clue to why Grimmjow might've been mad, as both of her hand was held out of her chest, and as her foot slowly backed away from the menacing, still lurking in the shadows boy.

"Oreo?"

"Nooo..." Nel smiled sweetly, eyes half open. "O-re-a-o. Oreao-kun!!"

_She _had never called him '-kun'. He thought bitterly. Rukia stole a glance and swallowed. Did you know that if a human was ever so angry, he could produce dark auras? Poor Grimmjow; already had a short temper and now fell into the pits of jealousy.

_Right about-_

"What are you doing together?" _Italics: Safe __Rukia_. **Bold: Caring ****Rukia**. Normal: Normal Rukia.

_No, Rukia, NO! Stop talking!!_

**But she must! She must if she wants to help her dear, psychotic friend. He already has a heavy life, so why must she add an anvil to it?**

_Because SHE doesn't want to die!!_

SHUT THE HELL-

"Hmmmmm??" Nel took her sweet time answering the question as she tapped her foot. "He asked me if I wanted to-"

Grimmjow is going to be on murderous rage right about-

"-go with him here. He doesn't no that 3-D is the delinquent class though-"

_Right about-_

"So I accepted because, y'know, that's brave!!" Nel smiled brightly.

SNAP.

'Oh so they're on a date...'

_Right about now..._

Grimmjow stepped out of the shadows wearing his normal face, which in _normal_ terms consisted of a crazy smirk and narrowed, pissed eyes.

Nel's smile brightened. "Grimmy!!"

"Grimmy?" Oreao repeated, without any tone of fright. Hmm, maybe he was a new student.

"Grimmy..." Rukia's eyes widened momentarily before realization dawned upon her._ She_ wouldn't get hurt, only the boy will. Well DUH!! I'd just like to point out that if that rash boy even do _anything_ near 'hurting' her, a _certain_ someone's Rukia senses will tingle. But of course Grimmjow will never-...

The subject of all interest grunted yet again in return. If he was very angry right now, he wasn't really showing it. Rukia stared, maybe she was-

"Who's he?" he growled. Nel didn't notice the slight snarl since Grimmjow growled almost everyday- in fact, he DID do it everyday, but probably not as much as Ichigo scowled.

-wrong. Nope! But apparently, the azure-eyed boy wasn't listening into their early conversation. Rukia let out a relieved sigh, this wasn't her job, she was no matchmaker, so why did she feel the weight on her shoulders?

Nel giggled. "Guess what?!" totally changing the subject.

"What?" Grimmjow growled out.

"He's my date!" xDD

OHMYGAWD. She did _not_ just say that in front of Grimmjow. Shedidn'tshedin'tshedidn'tshedidn't-

_Snap out of yourself, Rukia! Stop babbling, girl!!_

The blue-haired boy grinded his teeth. "Is he?"

"Yup!"

"This _punk_?"

"Yup!"

Oreao raised his index finger. "I'm not a-"

"Shut up." Grimmjow said through gritted teeth.

"But-"

"I said; shut the _fuck_ up."

**Stop acting like a friggin' prep and hold ****Grimmjow****dow**

"_You_ be quiet. You're scaring him away, Grimmy!"

"That's the whole point, _veggie head._"

"Veggie head!?"

"That's right," Grimmjow grinned bitterly. "Don't know what got into this dipshit's mind to take out a ditzy girl like you."

"Well if I'm such a ditzy girl," she stuck out her tongue at him. "Then why'd you always-"

You gotta love it, once realization _yet again_, dawns upon this midget girl -although it had to go a long way to reach her height- that Grimmjow Jeagerjaques: rash, violent boy, blue hair, blue eyes, curser-extraordinaire, was, and _indeed_ JEALOUS.

She couldn't help but grin as her fingers reacted by themselves and gripped the maddened boy's collar, surprising him and making him stumble backwards, yelling 5 curses in 2 seconds. Her feet started to walk the other way as she gave Nel a side-glance and smiled, -Grimmjow still at bay and cursing- and saluted the girl good luck with her date, before jogging away to tease the azure-eyed boy about her newfound discovery.

* * *

Renji dropped into some floppy thing, in which he turned around in to see that it was a beanbag chair. Who in the hell would bring a beanbag chair in a classroom? He closed his eyes and dropped his head, sinking into the little beans that made up the bag. Who would've thought that he hated them? Since his fashion was like hippie crossed over with bikers.

He had ditched the girl when she offered him drinks; Renji had sidestepped away from her and whirled, suddenly tripping into this damned bag. But that didn't mean that he refused her drinks. Going back, he stole the drink from her hands, ditched the girl, sidestepped, whirled, and tripped into the bag.

And now he was downing 3 cups of them, nasty as they may have tasted, it felt good when the cold liquid ran down your throat, like sprite only a hell lot worse. Crimson hair fell back fully and his eyes opened wildly at the rushing liquid that almost came out his mouth, and almost made him choke. He spitted them quickly, the bitter taste hanging from his tongue.

That's when he saw her, -NO; he's not talking about ANOTHER girl of his dreams and NO, not the previous drunken girl-. He recognized her as the chick with the green hair.

Renji raised an eyebrow and contemplated to say where was Grimmjow and why wasn't he with her, since the last few days he had been with them –surprise, wasn't it?- the two had ALMOST been together.

AND THEN SUDDENLY, ONCE AGAIN, for the third or fourth time that day, realization struck and hit Renji like he owed it money. His eyebrow rose, along with the tribal marks –or stickers- that was linked with it, and now he knew why Grimmjow had dragged Rukia with him.

Forgetting her name, Renji yelled, "Hey, you!"

All of the heads turned towards Renji.

He growled. "_No_, not _all_ of you, YOU!"

All of the faces wore puzzled expressions.

"Goddammit… you! With the green hair!!"

A stout punk who had bleached his hair green and Nel stared at him with raised eyebrows.

"The natural one."

Still staring.

"THE GIRL." Renji said simply. People murmured "Oh!!" before going back into their respective, shouldn't-be-named activities.

"Yes?" she called politely before her mouth turned into an 'O' and she squealed. Renji raised an eyebrow. "Oh! Renji!! How're you doing?"

"Bad. Good. Wass the difference?"

"Well, _bad _means-"

"I was being sarcastic." Renji slapped his forehead before groggily sitting up. "What about you? How're you doing?" once again, the redhead attempted to be sarcastic.

"I'm doing fine!!" She replied sweetly. Renji staggered downwards.

"Seen Grimmjow?" He asked finally.

Nel pouted. "Yeah."

"And?"

"Just… yeah."

"That's it?"

"Yeah."

"What'd you do together?"

"Actually, we had other companies."

"Was Rukia there?"

"Yeah."

"Anyone else?"

"Oreao-kun."

"Oreo?"

"O-re-a-o."

"Yerr cousin?"

"My date."

Renji was about to add another rifle from the gun-firing questions before her words sunk in and he stopped, his mouth hanging open to make a comment but no words came out. In other words, he was baffled for Grimmjow. She had _ditched_ the guy for some _other random_ punk? Ouch.

He wanted to laugh but didn't, though a few snickers slid out.

"I introduced him to Rukia and Grimmjow, but it seems that Grimmy doesn't like him very much."

Renji gripped his stomach, a wide grin spreading through his face. Mental -physical abuse- images flashing through his mind involving a cookie and a panther.

"Oh, and he's new!"

The grin evolved into laughter as Renji slid out of the beanbag chair, cackling animatedly.

"You okay?" Nel asked.

"Jesus," Renji looked up at her through snickers and tears. "Nel… -snicker- whatever you do, HIDE Oreo-"

"O-re-a-o-"

"-hide Oreo REAL DAMN good and go to class 1-A."

"Why?"

"About the hiding thing? Coz it's gonna be a few minutes before Rukia realizes this too and then she's gonna tease him 'bout it. _Then_ Grimmjow'll get mad and… and –snicker- and _dump_ Oreo in milk. (AKA: the dumpster)."

"What?"

"Toss him into your locker. That's a good hiding spot right there."

"Why do I need to go to 1-A?"

"Trust me." Renji grinned.

* * *

"You like her." Rukia smirked.

Grimmjow growled. "No I don't."

"You love her."

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

"You want her."

"Fuck you."

"You're jealous."

"Go to hell."

"You want to be high school sweethearts."

"What?!"

"Then you want to marry her."

"_What!?_"

"And you want Ichigo to be your best man-"

"WHAT!?"

She flipped her hair and her smirk grew wider. "Because he was the one who said blue and green made a good combo."

"I'll _fucking_ kill him."

"AHA!" she pointed and her cool façade dropped, turning into one who has a very twisted sense of humor. "So you're admitting it!"

"I didn't admit nothin'!!"

She scoffed. "Yeah, right."

"Exactly."

"I was being sarcastic." She snapped.

"Too bad, so sad." He sneered.

"Whatever," Rukia rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. They were presently standing in the rooftop, the cool night air billowing through and fro. Students knew that it was _their_ spot, well, mainly it was Ichigo's, but then _certain_ people just climbed in there as they pleased. Plus the other students didn't really get to experience what it was like being in the rooftop, AKA: the most awesome spot in the school, which sucked.

Still, wasn't it kinda weird when you saw a bright blue thing standing in the middle of the rooftop with a short girl when there was a party going on inside?

Which is why Ichigo raised his eyebrow to. What we're Eyeshadow and midget doing? He thought as he came through the gate, being careful to hide his identity among the students or else they'd all run around screaming.

Silence engulfed the air, making it tenser and tenser. But seriously, it didn't really feel tense or serious or anything, more like… confused, embarrassed, angry, awkward, and expecting something.

Grimmjow rubbed the back of his neck, his hand pausing and staying there for 2 seconds, contemplating. 1… 2…

Before-

He walks toward her, bends at her level and snarls. "What's in it for you?"

"Huh?" Rukia raises a brow.

"What'cha gonna do 'bout it?"

She blinks before suddenly understanding what he means. In Grimmy world, doubtful questions meant expecting help. Rukia smirked. "I'll help you."

* * *

Renji got up from his seat, -were beanbag chairs even considered a seat?- to go to the spiked punchbowl. As said before, the stuff was horrid, but out of force habits, he just _had _to get some. Or he'd die of boredom. Renji chuckled at this.

He wasn't mad at Rukia because she was dragged away; rather, he was mad at Grimmjow for _dragging _her away. Sort of. A little bit. You know what? NOT REALLY! He didn't understand the situation he was currently in since he dragged HIS DREAM GIRL away from him, preventing Renji to feel any new emotion towards the girl, but hell; least he could do for... for... dammit.

On the second thought: he WAS already doing something for them!! So yeah, right now, he SHOULD get mad! He had the right to since he was already doing them a favor; make those two favors!! Renji shook his head, why the hell was he taking a long time to get to the punchbowl when it was just right there?

He looked up finally and was stopped with a bump when a girl stood between him and the punchbowl. Damn.

"The punchbowl is spiked." she stated bluntly.

"I know." Renji said simply.

"It's against the law to drink."

"I know."

"And you're heading this way."

"I know."

"Therefore you are drunk."

"I kno- wait a minute..." he paused, choosing the right, preventing-trouble words to say. "So what if I am?"

"Are you?"

"I said '_if_'." Renji reminded her.

"You are."

"I said 'if'!!" repeated.

"We have to go to the nurse's office, you might be experiencing a slight headache, and I have to report you to the teachers."

Renji paused. Damn this girl and her nosy... persona! Why was she even in here if she was just going to suck the fun?! Why was she even in 3-D's classroom!? And why the hell did she pick him -the reasonably, though not really, average but has tribal tattoos/stickers around his body, innocent, drunk guy sitting in a beanbag chair- out of all the shit heads in here!?

She just gave him a glare, a book on her right hand. He realized that she was one of _those_ types, Rukia's type, only a little bit quieter and colder, a hell less wicked and deranged perhaps. So Renji did the best damn option any guy could've had/done.

Renji sidestepped... and ran.

* * *

"Well, it kinda depends, y'know?" Rukia said, though a little bit like a child's naivety. "Do you want a confession?"

"_What?_" Grimmjow looks at her with disgust. "Those kinda shit just happens in soap operas."

"Isn't this one?" she tapped her chin playfully, Grimmjow growled. Rukia sighed. "Fine, fine, Mr. I-wanna-get-this-over-with."

"Damn right."

"Pretend I'm Nel." She demanded ever so casually like she just said; "Oh, it's nighttime today!" but there was a glimmer in her amethyst eyes that told him that she wasn't kidding.

Grimmjow narrowed his blue eyes, staring at her weirdly. Glimmer or not, there was NO EFFING way that he was going to pretend that this tiny, midget girl was Nel. "Hell no." he stated simply and is a more likely casual sentence than; "Pretend I'm Nel."

"Why?" she frowned.

Grimmjow scratched his head. It was hard to be non-aggressive at times like these; hell, if she were Ichigo, he'd punch him in the gut by now. And he wouldn't even tell the strawberry about this, but on the first hand, he also didn't tell her, she just noticed, -hint denial when Rukia told him about it- and besides, he just asked _certain_ questions. But he did and she wasn't, so yeah, sucked for Grimmjow. And uh, the paragraph might've not made sense since it's only there because I'm running out of blunt things to say.

"Because you're not her." he said in a growl.

"That's why we're PRETENDING!!" she gritted out, honestly, men- no, delinquents could be _so stupid_. It was a wonder why the students were scared of them when they acted like... like... like _this_!!

"I can't _fucking_ pretend when you _fucking _look like that!!"

Ouch.

Grimmjow's eyes momentarily widened. SHITFUCKDAMN.

"_What?_" Rukia's voice was cold and smooth, though a bit edgy. She came unto him, standing on her tippie-toes but glaring down at his high stature like he was some kind of scum in the Earth and he _shouldn't_ be talking because he _was_ some kind of scum in the Earth.

Just because she looked rather terrifying and pissed off, didn't mean he'd back down. He was a friggin' badass, dammit!! But that also didn't mean that he'd say something back, he already had a slightly broken inner reputation, he didn't need a slightly broken inner organ turned inside out to go along with it.

So he stayed in silent rage, frowning at her. "Nel doesn't act this way," Grimmjow growled. "Just so ya know."

Rukia blinked up at him.

"She acts more childishly, less pissed-off-woman-y."

Rukia then smirks at him and hits Grimmjow with her purse.

"What the hell-"

"Childish 'nuff for ya?" she grinned.

"Huh? Oh, fuck. Yeah." he stomped down the feeling to re-design the girl's face and kept that feeling for future needs: like maybe taking that same feeling out on Ichigo since she's his responsibility some other time later.

"So," she coughed, catching his attention and changing her voice into something more high-pitched and sugary and put together. "_Grimmy_

Grimmjow turned around, towards the exit door of the rooftop. "Veggie head?"

"No, idiot. Right here." Rukia growled, slapping her forehead. "And who the heck's 'veggie head'?"

"What the hell we're you doing?"

"Being Nel."

"Well stop it. Shit's creeping me out." he growled and rubbed the spot on which she recently hit him on.

"Just do it. I'm trying to help you for Pete's sake!!" she frowned.

"Hell, you're doing a bad-" Grimmjow grabbed her purse and threw it somewhere. "_Don't_ hit me."

"MY PURSE!!" Rukia shrieked. "Do you know how much that cost!?"

"No." he answered simply.

"Well neither do I, but that was going too far." she frowned.

"Now you're acting like her." Grimmjow grinned. Rukia's eyes brightened at the mere compliment of her acting, which to the drama- DRAMA as in THEATER- queen is really heart touching.

But she put it aside for now, and grabbed both of his arms and placed them on her shoulders nonchalantly. "Now, the second part of confession," Grimmjow once again looked at her in disgust. "Is to, if you have that sorta personality/character, grab the girls shoulder and-"

And that's when Ichigo barged in to them.

* * *

Meanwhile...

* * *

Renji ran... ran fast... fast as his legs could carry him.

He looked back through his shoulders to see the girl sliding out of the classroom and bending down. "Karakura High track team,"

SHIT!

"Kunieda Ryou,"

FUCK!

"100m time,"

DAMN!

"12 seconds FLAT!" she yelled and ran... ran fast... though not even half as fast as her legs would carry her. In other words, this was a breeze for the long, black-haired girl.

"How the hell can you run this fast!?" Renji wheezed uncharactered-ly. He was a badass, dammit! Badassbadassbadassbadass-

STEP.STEP.STEP.STEP.STEP.STEP.STEP.  
STEP.STEP.STEP.STEP.STEP.STEP.STEP.  
STEP.STEP.STEP.STEP.STEP.STEP.STEP.

Crap! She was gaining on him!! Wait- no, not even! That was just an understatement! She was friggin' running past him!!

"Stop running so damn fast!! You're breaking the male code, bitch!"

* * *

**I'd **_**probab**__**ly**_** lose some reviewers since most/some fans **_**hate**_** character development** in which that character undergoes something that is embarrassing. I know I do, I usually skip those parts but I should probably leave that out in case you so choose to follow in my footsteps... KIDDING! About the footsteps part... Y'know what? Forget it. Seriously.

**Sorry for the late update, but it's hard thinking up a funny/serious plot **to release Grimmjow, produce GrimmNel greatness, make character boost for Renji, introduce Ryou -great girl really, not enough screen time, though be thankful for that or there'll be less IchiRuki-, and also introduce a new main character that will -temporarily- replace Grimmy!!

**Also expect a lot of annoying alerts in your emails** since I need to separate parts throughout the story because FF decided they hated dashes, but you STILL gotta love FF!!

**Just review**, SHITFUCKDAMMIT!


	10. Twist, turn, and catch

Friends: won't dare to call you names.  
Grimmjow: Will curse at you without no shame.  
Friends: won't dare to spend an hour with her.  
Grimmjow: doesn't mean to, but will fight if you prefer.  
Friends: are all **TOMFOOLERY  
**Grimmjow:'ll probably last forever.

* * *

"What the hell are you doing?" His voice was a little ticked off, not because the two were the only ones here when there was a lively party downstairs, because he was holding her shoulder rather- well, just that. Because he was holding her shoulder. But otherwise, Ichigo was swell, albeit confused. Rukia's back stiffened and her shoulders felt clammy to Grimmjow's hands. The blue haired boy's head turned to Ichigo, eyebrows raised.

"Not whatever you think we're already doing." He answered flippantly.

"Jackass, then why're you holding her shoulders like that?" Ichigo scoffed.

Grimmjow's mouth opened to defend himself and say that _she_ _did it_, only to think back at this and vaguely wonder just WHY he was EVEN defending himself FOR this moody fruit cup, when the answer was really quite simple.

"Because I can." Grimmjow released his grip on Rukia's shoulder and stepped towards Ichigo with a grin.

Ichigo smirked bitterly. "You sure about that, eyeshadow?"

Grimmjow's grin widens. "Damn sure that you don't own the fucking girl, strawberry."

While the two delinquents shoved at each other, their voices instead of getting loud and bitter and annoying, got raspy and hoarse and low, like snakes ready to bite and spit venom into each other's eyes. Rukia was left to stagger backwards, landing on the ground of the rooftop.

She glowered when her brain replayed the scene before and in front of her. Also because of Grimmjow's words. That smug bastard, actually WANTING to get beat up by Ichigo and then say that he was the guy who successfully irritated the crap out of the carrot top. He could've just told the truth, but no! The boy wanted drama and got up all in Ichigo's personal space!! He knew damn well that the orange-haired boy was... _sensitive..._ about girl-midgets-with-big-purple-eyes' security, so why did he have to annoy the hell out of the boy like so? If he had told the truth, everything would've been peachy keen, save for her kicking Ichigo's shin for breaking and entering and save for Grimmjow confessing his ready-to-die-but-still-somehow-living love for 'Veggie head', the adorable pet name for Nel.

And Ichigo. Since when was it a rule for someone to make sure that he needed to guarantee another someone's safety? Rukia rolled her eyes at her musings. There were currently two boys cursing and ready to beat each other up, and all she was doing was thinking to herself. But seriously, why was he so friggin' mad? He doesn't own her, or was she labeled as his, so why was he pissed off so much? It's not his job, it wasn't his business, or was she just that oblivious and there was something really going on that concerned for Ichigo to claim that it was, indeed his job and his business?

Her thoughts were cut off when a thud resounded into her surroundings and Grimmjow's back, ready to fall on her, stepped into her view.

Rukia watched with wide eyes as Grimmjow indeed fell on top of her. It's not that she was weak or stupid or scared or anything, it's just that when somebody was ready to fall on top of you at a half second, you can't just get up on your feet lightning fast and catch them; that's Wonder Woman's job! And Rukia, thank you very much, has human-like reflexes unlike some other girls.

While on the other side of the rooftop, Ichigo seemed to scowl at their positions, if a little deeper. He shoved his hands unto his pocket, gave a grunt for goodbye, and trudged to the exit door, closing it with a SLAM!

Rukia's eyes creaked open at the sound as she gave a groan and pushed Grimmjow's body off of her, and gasped inwardly at his swollen right cheek.

"What happened?" she asked if ever so softly.

Grimmjow cringed when he got up, eyeing her gentle, worried expression with distaste.

"Shut up, Grimmy." Rukia's eyes narrowed darkly but her tongue stuck out childishly. She suddenly smirked, "Well fine, if you want me to kick you while your down..." it grew wider. Damn, this girl really had_ some _wicked sense of humor. "Ichigo really beat you up, didn't he?"

Grimmjow growled. "Fuck off Kuchiki..." And after a moment passed, probably 5 seconds of Rukia's pressing curiosity, Grimmjow's snarl turned into what seemed like a child's pout. "I busted his lip, too."

Rukia could only smile and think about giggling like a little girl; only she thought that, not actually did it. She stood up and dusted her knees, offering to help the boy up but fell back down when he grabbed her hand hastily and stood. She frowned at him and he grinned.

"We're still pretending, right?" Grimmjow asked.

Rukia laughed. "Yeah, it's obvious you still need advice."

He snarled at her. "Just be sure to tell that fucking strawberry to ease off on my ass." Rukia nodded in return. "I'll be sure to talk to him." she frowned vaguely and scratched at her cheek. "He's kinda pessimistic about that, if a little paranoid, you know, thinking that were like _that_ and all. We haven't even got to do many things together yet to be considered as such, it's bad to think straightforward like that, so he should at least consult us first before making any judgments." She sighed. "Seriously, Ichigo's..."

Grimmjow frowned at her. "Thinking too much about it."

Rukia sighed again. "You're probably right. After all, it's really simple, he should know it already, what with you being in love with Nel and all."

Blue eyes blinked. "What?" It was probably the first time he heard a straightforward answer ever since this whole mess started.

"Don't even try to deny it, _lover boy_."

"Lover boy?"

"Shut up, you do like her. Just accept it."

"Nel? ME?" He pointed at himself just to make sure.

"ARGH!" Rukia broke out and growled angrily. "I just figured it out in the past, we're in the future now, stay in topic!!"

"What the _hell_ are you talking about?"

"That's why I've been pretending to be Nel and helping you Grimmjow!! HELLO! You. love. her." she was finally wheezing and calming down. For Pete's sake, males could be so... so... sooo... dear Jesus...

Grimmjow placed a reassuring arm around Rukia's shoulder aggressively, finally eating all of her words and gulping it down. Though it didn't go down into his belly, mind you. It went _up_ to his brain or else he couldn't piece all of this together. Hell, I bet Ichigo'd done the same. But moving on, he gripped Rukia's shoulder hard, probably waiting for the right moment, and it had to be tense and dramatic like in the movies, cause he was _mocking_ her here. Nevermind if his back fucking hurt right now from leaning in to the short, midget girl. He was making a fucking statement, dammit, and unlike all others, it was RIGHT.

She stared at him weirdly.

"Rukia," Grimmjow paused, tasting her name if it sounded right on his lips. It sounded... foreign and funny. He shook his head. "Kuchiki," yes, that's better; it gave off a kind of a more formal... vibration, thus further enhancing the embarrassment if only a little bit. He gave her a somber stare. "Nel is my cousin."

Pause.

Silence.

Rukia didn't answer immediately, because the words were kind of... surprising. No. That was just an understatement. She couldn't find the exact words fit for the situation right now because it was said so casually, like one would when saying "Chocolate and coffee ice cream goes well together." and in fact they do, but that's not the point here. The _effing_ words were spoken _so damn_ _casual_ it just took her by force. And hell, the meaning itself was SOMETHING ELSE, but the tone of how he said it!! He could've just yelled them out for goodness' sake! It would've been better if he did! There was something wrong with the boy if he was able to say it so easily, since they like each other and all...

UNLESS!!

Unless it was true! Was it? No. Impossible! He liked her, didn't he? And she on the other hand, Nel, was oblivious while Grimmjow really fucking liked her!! That's how it was supposed to go, but... they're cousins!? The hell!?

Rukia began to sputter gibberish while Grimmjow babbled nonsense. Or some-sense since it was useful information... BAH!!

"Actually, kinda think we're second cousins. If that helps you get up in the fucking morning, then hell yeah. 'Cept we're still cousins though." he paused and scratched the back of his head with his free hand. "Wait. Are we second or third...? No. _He's _my first cousin, I know that. How many fucking cousins do I got anyway? Wait a minnit- I have grandparents? I _had _grandparents. They dead though, rite? Damn."

"YOU'RE COUSINS!?" Rukia finally shrieked. Grimmjow immediately let go of her and may have shoved her a little bit.

"Damn Kuchiki, we're you a banshee on your past life?"

"You're- you're... cousins? Are you kidding? Why the hell didn't you tell me this earlier!?"

He shrugged. "Thought you know. Thought that's why you were helping me."

"But you were jealous... That's uncharacteredly for a cousin to act... Unless... AHA you're-"

"What!?" Grimmjow snapped. "I ain't got a thing for my _cousin_!! That's sick. EWW." he scrunched his nose in disgust.

"But you were still jealous." Rukia informed him.

"Jealous? Hell no. Where'd you get that idea? From strawberry again? I swear I will kill his little orange ass, goddammit!!" After muttering profanities at Ichigo's spirit, he gave her a look that you could only see once in a while: the one with wide- not _innocent _wide, the 'wtfayla?'(What The Fuck Are You Looking At) wide- blue eyes and raised brows.

Rukia coughed a little bit, clearing her throat and regaining her cool composure. "Then why'd you get so hot with Oreao-kun?"

"I wasn't pissed with no fucking oreo cookie!!" he replied defensively.

"The BOY." Rukia fought the urge to roll her eyes. "You were jealous."

"Oh." he then growled. "Then say his name right, however the hell you pronounce it. And for the last, _fucking_ time. I wasn't jealous. Guys in my family's just overprotective. Why'd you think I hanged out with her all the time?"

"It's 'hung' not 'hanged'." she corrected despite the situation. Grimmjow made a face. "She's two years younger than me so I was kinda worried and HANGED out with her sometimes. Little bit. Shut up Kuchiki, or I swear to God... her mom won't leave me alone about this stuff and my mom'd chew my ass out and lock me outta my room if something happened to her. Then you befriended her so I HANGED out with her what with you dragging our asses wherever you damn well pleased." he glared. "There, that's your story. Now leave me alone."

She raised a brow, obviously wanting to ask more questions and pry into his family life. Grimmjow fought the urge to pinch his nose bridge and slap her silly. "What?" he finally seethed.

"Then why'd you ask me to help you with... this stuff?" Rukia asked, pausing if 'this stuff' were the correct term since she obviously couldn't use the term 'make up' anymore. Could she?

"Because Veggie Head is sensitive. Now could we please move on?" He stifled a groan.

She couldn't help but smile lightly. VERY LIGHTLY, okay? "Fine... wait till I tell Ichigo this. He'd sure laugh."

"I hope he giggles." Grimmjow muttered darkly. Rukia smiled again. "But hey, now he'll understand more. He'll FINALLY understand that it's completely platonic."

"Platonic. Yeah."

"But we're still friends though, right Grimmjow?" she inquired.

He grinned, almost reluctantly but still easily. "Fucking buddies already, Kuchiki."

* * *

Ichigo kicked a can.

Was he sulking? For what? Because the two were the only ones there and he was jealous? He snorted. Please, m'dears, it's going too fast, of course not. No. Eff NO. Maybe it was just because they left him alone? He was used to it, but still. It's not like the people WANTED to leave him in the past, he just chose to go away. And fuck no, he wasn't angsting. But they didn't consider if he actually wanted to hang out, even if he made sure to say he REALLY DIDN'T want to; he was alone, and hell, that kinda sucked.

Ichigo shook his head.

Well, that sounded reasonable, but he told them he wasn't coming on the other hand, but that didn't give them the right to just _ditch_ him and be hopeless. Did it? He smirked somewhat bitterly. _Of course_, what'd he expect? Or perhaps he was thinking about this way too much and negatively.

Ichigo kicked another can, and it somehow ricocheted and hit him on the knee. Damn.

Long, black flowing hair ran past him like a bullet: gracefully, elegantly. Another one flew by -was that _red_?- but almost slapped him on the face. And since it was a fucking _ponytail_; effing long one too and it seemed to go by _real slow_, it managed to stay for a couple of seconds to strangle his face.

The red ponytail moved again, and Ichigo cursed when it struck his cheek harshly. His hand immediately flew to pull it back like a sock puppet. REVENGE, BITCH! Though the sudden wish of having long hair to swing around the bastard's face kinda scared him.

Renji gave out a hiss, a yell, then his elbow accidentally struck Ichigo's chin, sending the boy backwards.

"DAMN! My elbow, OWW! What the hell's in your chin, brick!?" The redhead yelled angrily, nursing his ponytail.

Ichigo scowled, rubbing his chin. "You're one to talk!! What do you _put_ in that hair!? Did you train it to slap people!? You fucking ruined the whole elegance thing!"

"Elegance?" Renji growled. "I'ma really show you how well I can slap- OH SHIT!" His eyes widened when the girl skidded to a halt and ran to them.

Ichigo squinted his eyes. "Is that Kunieda Ryou?"

Renji let on an uncharacteristic shriek, and when the girl seemed to _leap_ to him, he caught her body and pulled her to his shoulder. The girl struggled and kept on hitting, kicking and pulling on his hair despite her still quiet demeanor. His hands gripped her legs together and his other hand tied both of her hands behind her back. Renji grinned from ear to ear and Ichigo just raised an eyebrow at the girl who was in a potato-sack position, plus was tied up like she was some sort of pig.

Ryou's eyes narrowed at the height between her and the ground. Sure, she was a tall girl for her age but the guy that caught her was even taller for his age. She faintly wondered that if he was to let go and she was to fall, would she break her neck?

"HA! In your face bitch, now I'M ruining the girl code!!" Renji let out a triumphant smirk. Ichigo sighed. Grayish black eyes gazed at him. "Eh, you seen Grimm- whatever the hell his name was?"

"Grimmjow?" Ichigo looked up with a scowl. "Might have. Why?"

"Damn, what's his issue with everybody else? Girl wit green hair was mad at him, now you too? Fuck."

That seemed to gain his attention. Ichigo raised a brow. "Why're you asking? Got a problem with him too?"

Renji shook his head with a grin. "Nah, just tell him after he's over his meeting with Rukia, to get his ass to room 1-A."

Ichigo was about to nod when the redhead's words _really_ sunk in. "Wait- you know why they're together?" Renji seemed to frown. "Together? OH! Yeah, yeah... Rukia's preparing him to make up with that green girl. Seems like they fought coz he was jealous of an oreo or sumthing."

"Jealous?"

Renji nodded.

"But they're co-"

"AHEM." Ryou voiced in with a clear of her throat. "I'm sorry, but a girl hates it when she's ignored. May you kindly set me down, baboon, or would you like it if I do it myself?" of course she only spoke to Renji since she knew Ichigo quite well through Tatsuki.

"In your dreams, bitch." Renji answered and turned back to Ichigo. "Oh, and fix that lip of yours. It's busted, bleeding, and damn!! it looks nasty. What happened?"

Ichigo scowled.

* * *

_ow._

_Ow._

_OWW!_

_Damn this kinda hurt, how the bloody hell did I just notice this?_ Grimmjow frowned vaguely, not really knowing what to do when the nurse handed him a plastic bag with melting ice inside.

"Here, sweetie." the old woman smiled at him.

Grimmjow raised a brow before taking it. What the hell do you do with this? He always got the one with the blue cloth with some kind of cold stuff inside, not _this_ ancient shit. He brought it closer to his face and suddenly shrugged, ripping a tiny plastic off with his teeth and sucking the cool water.

The nurse eyed him strangely. Why was this boy _drinking_ the supposed ice pack? Was this some kind of new fad? Want first than need?

He was eating the ice now, when the door slammed open and Renji stared at him weirdly.

Grimmjow wanted to growl. The bastard had the courage to look at HIM weirdly when the redhead was all messy and beat up and handcuffed by some girl? His frown deepened, his pride slightly jabbed but still continued to eat at the ice.

"What the hell are you doing?" Renji finally asked. Grimmjow glowered.

"I'm eating." he answered, clearly annoyed.

Ryou raised a brow when she looked beside Renji. "It's an ice pack."

Grimmjow paused.

"Yeah, the nurse even added some blue stuff to it." Ryou scrunched her nose. "You're sick."

He spit it out when Renji sat down laughing. "Oh God," he chuckled some more before grinning at the blue haired boy. "Meet the green haired girl at room 1-A, and tell her what you just did coz I'm damn sure it'll help you make up."

Grimmjow raised an eyebrow at Renji. There goes that damned 'make up' term. He shook his head and just stood up towards the door, because hell, it had something to do with Veggie Head.

The nurse suddenly stood up before Grimmjow could go. "Sweetheart, does it still hurt? Are you thirsty again? Do you want me to pack you another ice pack or will you be all right?"

Grimmjow bit the inside of his cheek, glowered, then left the room with a SLAM! Renji burst out laughing.

* * *

Later, Ichigo found himself scribbling on the dirt with a stick. He was at the back of the school, WAY, WAY BACK, as in the woods and stuff. He carried an ice pack for his lip, pressing it in and later letting it go, then pressing it back in as he continued to absent-mindingly draw.

He turned to doodle on his left side when a deformed bunny appeared on the dirt. His eyes slightly widened.

_Okay, ignore it. Just ignore it._

He shifted and turned to his left. A horrible doodle of a bear appeared. Ichigo's forehead started to sweat.

_It must've been here yesterday. Just a coincidence, man, calm down._

A stick drawing of a girl appeared on top of his dirt drawing. It's mud eyes stared back at him coldly, eyeing Ichigo whenever he moved left or right.

_Wipe it off, Ichigo, wipe. the. damn. thing. off. _

But his hands stopped mid-wipe when humming reached his ears. Ichigo swallowed a lump in his throat, his brown eyes searching wildly at the source. Left? No. Right? No. Below? His heart skipped a beat. _HOLY SHIT IT'S THE DRAWING!-_

"Ichigo!"

"I'M WIPING IT!" He shrieked and almost jumped when he saw Rukia squatting beside him.

Rukia rose an eyebrow.

An imaginary slap to the face got Ichigo's brain running again. He immediately scowled, realizing the situation. Rukia laughed.

"You should've seen your face."

He smirked. "You should've seen your drawing."

Rukia frowned. "At least SOMEBODY ELSE I know appreciates my talent."

Ichigo scowled. "Who, Grimmjow?"

"No," she glared at him. "Why're you bringing him into our conversation?"

"Coz he's the appreciator, isn't he?" Ichigo inquired, his scowl deepening.

"And what if I say yes?"

"Then the bastard needs glasses."

She frowned again. "Why do always insult him?"

"Why're you defending him?"

"Because you're always insulting him!"

"On the contrary, I'm actually insulting you." He smirked bitterly.

"That's why I'm defending him then." she matched his smirk.

"Well if that's that, then I guess you can both go off and marry then." he stuck his tongue out at her. "Bastard and Midget sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G-"

"Stop it." she frowned.

"First comes love,"

"Stop it."

"Second is something."

"Ichigo. Stop. You're not even saying the words right."

"Oh, so you want me to?" he inquired innocently.

"Just- just shut up." she glared. "You're childish."

He scowled at this and snapped his stick in two.

SNAP!

Three.

SNAP!

Four.

He muttered some incoherent profanities when it was too short to be broken.

Silence.

"Grimmjow and I were at the rooftop because I was helping him with something." Rukia broke the silence, gazing at him with her half-lidded eyes.

"Renji told me."

She frowned. "Renji? How'd he know?" her amethyst eyes darkened. "So why're you still getting angry?"

"Am not." he scowled. She scoffed. "Whatever. But yeah, we weren't doing anything, just to let you know."

"Oh, I know."

She raised her eyebrow again, now wanting to test his reaction some more. "Because he was jealous and all, and Nel was totally oblivious so I offered to teach him how to confess, and some love advice."

Ichigo found another stick to snap, but stopped mid-break. "What?"

"I said-"

"I know what you said. But you _do_ know that they're cousins, right?"

She gaped. "_You_ know?"

"Of course." he said smugly, breaking the twig in half. "Keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer, midget." Ichigo smirked the scowled. "But Nel sometimes comes over my house to baby-sit my sisters." he muttered the last part.

"Yes, I only found out recently. Right when you left." she drew her knees to her chest and hugged it, giving Ichigo her stick to snap.

He scowled at the subject, breaking another twig. "So him touchin' you was really pointless."

"Think what you want I'm tired." she frowned at him, but her eyes suddenly sparkled. Like the kind when you suddenly remembered something. "But if they _are_ in fact cousins and you knew, why'd you suggest they make a good combination?"

Ichigo smirked, snapping her previous stick in two. "You'll see midget, you'll see."

* * *

Nel tapped on the desk she was sitting on, humming a random tune thought at the top of her head and tapping with her small index finger for the right rhythm. The door slid open and Grimmjow came in with a frown.

"You coulda told me about him, y'know?"

"Yes but you're gonna tell auntie!!"

"Yes, coz she'll kill me!!" He mocked her in a high-pitched voice before rolling his blue eyes. "Seriously, and she ain't afraid to hold back on me, us being family and all."

She giggled. "All right, all right, I forgive you Grimmy." he frowned at the nickname. He never did say sorry but appreciated the fact that she understood. Kind of.

"But you know, we're not really cousins." her golden brown eyes watched in fascination at Grimmjow's reaction.

"We ain't?"

"No silly!" she giggled. "Though we _are_ in fact second cousins, it's by marriage. My aunt's cousin got remarried to your uncle's brother and that's how the magic happened. Plus, I heard from my mom that they divorced last year. So technically, we're not cousins anymore. Though it's quite a shame that our parent's are still friends, tangling us up into their wacky ideas."

He pondered about this. She was the only person who used big words and 'wacky' in the same sentence. "Well shit. Guess I gotta do some explaining later."

"Exactly." she giggled again as the green-haired girl tried to put an arm around the blue-haired boy's neck, which was kinda near to impossible.

* * *

Amethyst eyes smiled. "She's adopted?"

* * *

**Twist**: they're cousins.

**Turn**: they're cousins _through marriage_.

**Catch**: can and will it work?

* * *

**SUMMARY HELP AGAIN!**

**Sorry, but if you're reading this can you please make me a summary?? **If you do, umm, I'll tell you who the next main character is!! If you care...

* * *

**Sorry for the REALLY late update, but I was kinda obsessed with Reno from FF7 and Advent Children**. Then I fell in love with Relena, which is Reno x Elena, the rookie or something. AND DAMMIT, HE DOES NOT BELONG WITH TIFA!! I don't effing care if she's a bartender and he likes beer so much, it's like pairing Vincent and Shinra because Vincent was once an awesome, possibly legendary Turk before he died and Shinra owned the whole entire thing!!

**So yeah, sorry again that you kinda didn't like the idea of them being cousins and all** but it was just a twist that I came up with and HAD TO DO. Though I hope I made it pretty clear that they are no longer related.

**Umm... sorry nothing much happened...**

**Just review okay**, I'm still planning the next main character's appearance. Hoped that pumped some adrenaline blood or something that'll make you wanna alert and review!!


	11. Quickstarter

Hey, my body's talking to me  
Saying stuff it shouldn't be  
But because of all this **TOMFOOLERY**,  
You're all I need to see  
To make my body stop talking to me,  
But now it's going to a different degree

* * *

XxXxXxX

Rukia sighed tiredly, the 'celebration' passed, and what seemed like two weeks went by. It was starting to turn into a routine- go to school, go home, sleep- what with those threesomes always getting into trouble and now got their asses stuck in their school's new programs.

Ichigo had to go this particular class that helped troubled teens like him stop smoking- of course she was already doing that before the delinquent program was established at their school, but who knows? He might be smoking whenever he skipped between classes, and she wasn't there to smack him on the face.

Then Grimmjow got stuck with those anger management classes, complete with the stress balls and punching bags. But Nel told her that the teacher somehow always ended up being locked out of the classroom. One time, the same teacher was found stuffed inside locker 347, and when Nel gave Grimmjow a look, he merely grinned. Rukia'd ask Ichigo if he knew about this, but the strawberry boy's scowl would only quiver up into a smirk.

And then there was also Renji. She thought that the guy was the sanest person in their group, her and Nel being an exception of course. But who would've thought that the guy took an interest in drinking after that party?

She mentally slapped herself. GAWD. Even though these boys appeared laid-back and easy around her, Rukia and the rest of the world- ergo meaning you- needed to be reminded that not only were they _bad ass_, worst- they were _bad ass_ punks who probably had a share of criminal records. Maybe they were even capable of having a gang war at school without having questioned, and by the looks of it, these boys could even win the damned gang war and get away with it…

… but that didn't mean that they wouldn't get reprimanded- of course they'll get reprimanded! By her- or Nel- or the police- the military?

You see!? You see how dangerous they are!?

She dumped all these thoughts away like how she dumped her lunch in the trash can- then a hand stopped her in the nick of time.

Her amethyst eyes looked up to find a boy- slightly taller than her, well mostly everybody was, but still… he had what seemed like greenish blue eyes and a blank face. Though what stood out the most was his hair that spiked at the bottom, his extremely pale skin- paler than hers, you'd thought he was made out of bed sheets-, and tattooed lines just beneath his lashes, making him look like a somber clown that was crying.

Rukia was snapped out of her stupor when his cold voice reached her ears.

"… Are you going to eat that?"

She looked down. "Eat what?" Though her tongue was automatic in replying, she couldn't help but wonder how the guy's question _totally_ ruined his image.

"That." His voice stated.

Rukia didn't know. There was a whole bunch of stuff in her tray. Despite being a female, the girl _loved_ to eat as much as Ichigo scowled- which I gotta say, is a lot.

She was silent for a while. "My drink?"

"No."

"My salad?"

"No."

"Cake?"

"No."

"Strawberry?"

"No."

Her eyes fixed on his before she slowly replied again. "… pocky?"

"Yes." He wasn't even ashamed that a seemingly antisocial guy like himself wanted a piece of her rainbow-colored pocky. But then again…

He did look like Ichigo's types, right? Where they didn't care whatever the hell it was that was going on unless it included them, and that they thought they owned the whole school? Well, he didn't show it, but Rukia could tell that his mind was a very… _creative_ … one… No, she'll just say this outright- it was a very… sardonic one. Sardonic like by the time you read this sentence, you've already read it. And yes, she just found that on the Internet and it doesn't make sense at all. Shut the hell up.

But he always frowned and looked melancholic... same for Ichigo and his angsty moments, it made him badass.

She smiled vaguely. "You can have it… if you dump my tray and hand it back to the cafeteria lady."

He rolled his eyes, taking the pocky from her hands and walking off. Rukia couldn't help but be proud of herself, that she somehow managed to order that moody guy into dumping her food- that is, until he gave her tray to some random kid and ordered him to dump it.

XxXxXxX

The next day

XxXxXxX

A small shadow could be seen creeping up the hallways, stopping often times whenever this guy stopped walking. Sure he seemed to know that this particular girl was 'stalking' him –for lack of better word- no _following­ _him. Yes. Following him. But hell, the girl looked like she didn't care.

Her silhouette grew bigger as the sun raised higher, then the girl ducked when the boy turned around and scowled.

"Rukia, stop stalking me."

"What makes you think I'm stalking you, fool?" She stood up and dusted her knees. "Yes, I might be _following_ you, but I might also be going into the same direction as you."

"Oh, I don't know… but I kinda think the fact that you keep on jumping around the hallway and hiding behind the corners leaves some clues." He smiled wryly. "Plus it doesn't help when you hum the James Bond theme song."

She huffed. "Whatever." Then her amethyst eyes looked him in the eye and she smiled a wicked kind. "Help me with something, will you? It's the least you can do."

"When have you ever done anything for me?" Ichigo's eyebrows furrowed.

She frowned. "Lots of times, I can assure you." He scowled. "All you did was hide my pack of cigarette and make me chew gum… and _dammit_, Rukia… my body's talking to me… I need some kind of nicotine-"

"Ichigo!" she called his name before his eyes turned amber. He snapped out of his trance. "I…" her amethyst eyes looked to the right, then suddenly brightened and her wicked smile was back. "I need a bait."

He blinked, then suddenly scowled. "Oh hell no, I ain't gonna be no damn decoy." She rolled her eyes. "Not a decoy, I just need some help to get-"

"A busboy's just as bad too."

"Fine. I'll just talk to Renji-"

"Your savior's talking with that one girl, Ryou…" he smirked.

She hesitated. "Grimmjow…?"

"He's busy with his anger management class."

"Ulqui, then…"

Suddenly, in Rukia's amusement, Ichigo immediately scowled. "Who?"

"Who what?" and because she aspired to be an actress, she decided to play with him.

"Ulqui-whatever you called him." Ichigo gritted his teeth.

"Who?"

"That's what I wanna know!"

"Who are you talking about?"

"That guy! Ul-whatshisname!"

"Oh, you know him? Do you plan to introduce him to me? Is he a girl?"

"Dammit, Rukia!"

"Yes?" She batted her eyelashes, stomping out the urge to smirk. Because it takes skill to _not _smirk when you know you _beat_ this orange-haired punk that practically beat almost _every_ other punks in this school. It takes _serious_ skill. Ichigo scowled. "I'll… I'll go. Whatever, fuck it. I'll go."

XxXxXxX

"What…" Ichigo then exploded. "… the hell!? You're telling me that we went to fucking seven stores to buy this fucking brand of pocky so we could fucking lure that fucking clownasstard so you could fucking interview him for the fucking paper!?"

The orange-haired boy seethed. He just _dared_ his alter ego to go all alter on everybody's ass right now. He wanted to slam some lockers, dammit; something to vent all this frustration.

He wanted to castrate her. He wanted to castrate the manager for selling this effing piece of shit so effing far from Karakura High. He wanted to castrate Grimmjow for some odd reason. He wanted to castrate this 'Ulqui' bastard.

And he MOST DEFINITELY wanted to castrate that asshole that they were currently following, ergo stalking. Plus he really wanted his cigars right now.

He- oh my _god _he needed some nicotine right fucking now. It was too addictive to give up; he needed it right _now_. NOW. FUCK NOW. His body was talkin' to him… SHIT, he really wanted them _bad_.

Rukia meanwhile, unaware of his necessities, snorted. "We're lucky that they sold it here, in Karakura Town. Where do you think you're chewing gum comes from? Heaven? Hell no, fool. That stuff gets delivered from North Korea to my house-"

"That's not the point," he wanted to argue despite his growing need for cigarettes. To smell the smoke and inhale its sweet fragrance, to feel it corrupt his lungs and- _goddammit_. "Rukia," his eyes were beginning to blink amber. "Gimme the gum."

She turned and stared at him. He was scowling really hard and his face was desperate. Rukia pocketed her hand and scuffled around it, finally grabbing a pack and handed a piece to him. "Just promise to help me, kay?"

"Whatever." He muttered as he hurried to take the damned foil wrapping off then immediately shoved it into his mouth, chewed, and blew a bubble in her face. His appearance changed as he smirked instantly. She looked at him weirdly, criticizing his behavior.

"Okay…" She stopped as she craned her neck to hear footsteps.

_Step._

_Step. _

_Step._

"- oh crap, duck! He's looking at us!" She grabbed his bright orange head and pushed it down along with hers.

To be nice, they looked really idiotic. An ideal student and a top-ass punk crouching together in the middle of the hallway with the girl grasping fistful of his vibrant locks, and the top-ass punk covering her mouth with his hand.

The boy they were stalking stopped and pocketed his hands. He raised an eyebrow, eyeing the two. "I can see you." He stated simply.

"… no you can't!" Ichigo quickly replied, Rukia wriggled out of his arms and wrestled to be free, trying to bite his hand off her mouth so she could speak.

The boy merely stared at them before walking away. Bunch of freaks. He knew he should've never gone to this school again. Trash-students. Hmph.

"Yo momma- OWW! Dammit, -chew, chew- you bit me, you midget!" Ichigo scowled, and the pokerfaced-boy turned around to see what the commotion was about. He blinked, then stared, his green eyes suddenly drawn towards a pink box.

Rukia smiled, ignoring Ichigo's cursing and how this could _totally_ blow her sweet-girl-reputation and on the same time disturb all the other students in the school.

The other boy took a step forward; determination crossed his features like how a pregnant woman devoured chocolate –so quickly it _flashed_ before your eyes and you probably completely missed it- to get the rainbow colored pocky.

"You want it?" she called to him, waving the box and taking a step backwards.

He didn't say anything, convinced that the fools didn't know what they were doing, and _knowing,_ that he would get what he wanted from them without having to lift a finger. Because really, _do you know _how hard it was to find that specific brand of pocky?

Rukia tapped Ichigo on the shoulder, having to rise to her tiptoes. "Here, hold this."

"Why?" he scowled at her.

"You two walk while I supervise." She ordered with a professional smile.

Ichigo looked at her warily, reluctantly taking the pocky out of her hands and the other boy's step suddenly quickened.

_What the hell did they think they were doing?_

The orange-haired boy shuddered. Shit, that guy kinda looked like a ghoul.

XxXxXxX

"Okay, step back, step back- stop. There's a corner, Ichigo, you see. So, step back, one more, one more- go on. Keep breathing. You're doing great, luv-"

"I ain't giving birth, Rukia." Ichigo deadpanned, looking back at his shoulders at the girl who 'supervised'- well mostly said random things and blabbered.

The boy that fell victim to the pocky was still following them- like a puppet that didn't seem to mind all this crazy shit. What _shame_. And he looked pretty decent and chill too, for a serious clown…

Which was really saying something. Hmm, he liked this guy. He was calm, quiet, and totally blank. And the good part was that he didn't bitch around unlike some people –cough-Grimm-cough-jow-.

But then again, he wasn't all that normal too… or at least looked like it. He had a fucking tattoo line going down from both of his eyes, and he was so effing pale he'd make a ghost look… unghostly. He probably had his share of… moments… that made him finally get used to all this crap.

More respect points for you, man.

The door to the rooftop opened without Rukia opening it, but with Ichigo having to use his elbow while he staggered backwards and while his arm struck forward, still baiting the greenish-eyed fellow with the pocky.

The lad just followed, looking as if he was disinterested in the snack but seemed to really like it if he followed them all the way _here_... but _goddamn_, his face hasn't even changed yet! Impassive as ever... crap, did he even blink!?

Ichigo knew that ever since they him with the stick biscuit that the other boy's eyes never left the box... or maybe he was just like that. He looked to be _just like that. _

What the hell was in the pocky that made the poker-faced boy like it so damn much? Drugs? Damn.

"Ichigo, give it to me." Rukia ordered.

Ichigo scowled. "After bossing me around so many goddamn times, you think I'm just going to give this to you when I did all the work?!" he half-yelled, eyeing the other boy critically... the clownasstard's image -what with the tattooed tears and all- was really something to observe.

You didn't know if this guy was just some random emo or was actually a freak that escaped from its circus home, probably entertaining himself with the idea of pouncing you and ripping your fucking face off.

Scary stuff, right? Hah. You have NO IDEA.

Well, he didn't either coz he was really just making this up as he went along and waved the pocky in front of the guy's face.

Though he seemed addicted to it, (Who the hell would follow two people up to the rooftop with only just a pocky?) the boy did not make any move to snatch it from Ichigo's hand, which really amused him.

Hell, if _he_ was in his spot, he'd have bitch-slapped himself by now, stole the pocky, then ran while the midget girl came chasing him- which doesn't make sense either so he'll just stop thinking now.

Grimmjow was the first one to stare right after Rukia snatched the pocky from Ichigo's hands, and the other guy seemed to stare everywhere, criticizing every nook and cranny with distaste. His green eyes went back to the pink box, glaring at its holder.

Meanwhile, Grimmjow's blue eyes narrowed as he eyed the pocky like it was his prey. He quickly stood up and strode to Rukia, snatching the box out of her hand.

His blue eyes scrutinized at the pink box. "What the fuck- _rainbow pocky?_" he ripped open the box, suddenly grinning with familiarity._ "_Hey, I've tried one of these before, it is fucking _delicious_!"

"What the- Grimmjow, if you do not give me that box right this minute mister, I will-"

"Ha! As if I'm liste- SHIT!"

Nel pounced on his back.

"Grimmy, I will snap your neck if you don't give me the box!"

"Over my dead body!" The rash boy growled, jumping up and down like a deranged bull. Nel held tight to his neck, determination crossing her features- it wasn't even funny. She was almost, seriously, choking the guy, which on another hand, really was funny.

"Grimmy, I'll really kill you!" The green-haired girl said, and did something to his neck. Ichigo couldn't really tell, but it was damn awesome when his 'rival' fell to the ground and dropped in pain.

Nel smirked triumphantly but was suddenly shrugged off of Grimmjow's shoulders. The aforementioned boy recovered miraculously after eating one pocky -shit! That stuff brought shame to Popeye and his green spinach!-. He grinned like he was high- high as in a cat stuck in a tree never to come down unless the fireman showed up and hosed it with water.

While on the note of the 'fireman', he finally came. "Grimmjow, take another one and I will castrate you."

Ichigo whistled slowly. "Damn. They're double-ganging you."

The azure-eyed boy on the other hand growled. "Stop acting so damn tough!"

The other boy scoffed.

"OhmyGod, it's Ulqui!" Nel gasped, suddenly running and giving the boy a bear huge.

Ulquiorra's eye twitched. "What are you doing, girl?"

"Girl?" Gimmjow frowned; forgetting their little tirade earlier yet still clutched the pocky like it was some sort of lifeline. "That's Nel, bastard."

Ulquiorra's eyebrows vaguely raised. "Nel...?" he looked at the girl who gave him a big smile. He clicked his tongue, his green eyes staring impassively at her golden ones. "She changed remarkably."

"Yeah, yeah, don't go there." Grimmjow coughed a bit and gestured to her... manslayers...

Ulquiorra raised a brow at his sentence. "What do you mean?"

"Nothin'," Grimmjow growled. Ulquiorra looked at Nel again, "I've been informed that you've been detached from the family."

Nel gave Grimmjow a puzzled look. "What's he implying?"

"The guy's just tryin' to apologize." The azure-eyed boy grinned dryly. "Haha, fucktard has his moments."

"Apologize?" she gave a puzzled stare. "About what?"

Grimmjow shrugged. "That he don't care that your aunt's whatever got divorced with our uncle's brother, some shit like that."

Nel momentarily frowned at this, and then snatched the pocky from Grimmjow's hand when nobody seemed to care anymore.

"What the fu- no! Nel!"

"I'll take the pocky as an apology gift," she smiled brightly.

"Way to pay attention, Grimmjow." Ulquiorra snorted.

He growled. "Shut the hell up Ulquiorra. Nel, ever heard of fuckin' sharing in kindergarten? You _bitch_."

"Yes," she eyed the two, giving a smirk. "I learned from the best, you kno-"

Grimmjow instantly grabbed the pocky from her hands, grinning, and the girl frowned

"Hey, no fair! You distracted me!"

"I don't give a damn." he voiced out, scoffing, until Ichigo took the pink box from him.

The strawberry boy scowled. "I hate being ignored."

"What makes you think we care?" Grimmjow snorted, forgetting that he was supposed to pounce on this motherfucker for taking the pocky.

Ichigo smirked back, and then flung the snack out the rooftop. "Haha, you're a funny bastard."

Ulquiorra stuffed his hands to his pocket, frowning vaguely. Now that the pocky was gone, all was left here was trash. There was no use to staying.

With this in thought, he turned on his heels, walking towards the exit door. Grimmjow frowned at him. "Where're you going?"

"Towards the pocky. It should've landed in front of the school building." He said, voice monotonous yet had a little bit of edge in them.

The guy with the orange hair didn't have to throw the damned box. It was seriously uncalled for.

_Step._

_Step._

_Step._

The boy was out of the door, walking downstairs quite calmly.

After a pause, Grimmjow snarled. "Asshole thinks he's so fucking great," he muttered to nobody, yet everybody heard him as he too headed for the exit.

Nel stared, a light frown etching its way to her lips. "You'd think he'd be mature about the situation," she said, mentioning Ulquiorra and fixing her hair, striding after Grimmjow. She looked at him. "If we get the box, we won't share."

The azure-eyed lad paused at her words, then grinned suddenly. "Hey, you're takin' after me."

Rukia blinked as she watched the two deserted her and Ichigo.

The carrot-top scowled. "Come on, I know a short-cut." He muttered, and Rukia stared at him weirdly.

"What is your problem? Never heard of forgiveness in kindergarten?"

"Forgiveness?" Ichigo snorted, then scowled further. "We were the ones who went to seven freaking stores to get the damned pocky, and they're just gonna take it? Fuck kindergarten."

Rukia gave him a suspicious look, her eyebrows furrowing. "I suppose you're right."

"I am." He mumbled, leaping off and landing at the fire escape.

Rukia did the same, although she went down the metal stairs instead of just jumping. She rolled her eyes silently at Ichigo.

Show off. But he was correct about the pocky thing.

XxXxXxX

_Tap.Tap.Tap.Tap._

_Tap.Tap.Tap.Tap._

_Tap.Tap.Tap.Ta-_

Renji broke his pencil and growled at Ichigo. "Will you stop doing that, dammit?"

"Doing what?" he merely whispered back.

"That _thing_, that tapping thing. It's getting annoying."

"Is it?" Ichigo smirked.

He growled again. "Yes, and so is your voice and face. What the hell's your problem?" Of course, Renji never really expected any reply from him so he assumed that he asked a rhetorical question. It was nice if he did in fact answer, but when Ichigo did- it wasn't the one he expected.

"I... need to smoke." The carrot-top finally said. Renji looked at him and his eyes started flashing amber- was this normal for him? To change his eye color like that? Coz if it is, then it is fucking _freaky_.

"Is that it?" Okay fine, so maybe he did expect the answer. But seriously, the boy looked really fidgety and stuff that he looked like he really needed to go to the nurse or something.

"Yeah, basically."

"So why're you asking me?" Renji asked him again. So maybe he wasn't helping him and maybe denying the orange-haired boy his nicotine was dangerous, but still... still what? Ah, fuck, he didn't know.

They were taking a test now so he really didn't concentrate much on the conversation. Plus that girl- Ryou, was it?- will reprimand him again. Talk about an annoying slut... but shit, what if she tells Rukia? Ohshit.

"I'm asking you because Rukia has it. It's in her locker, I think."

Renji turned one last time to the now amber-eyed boy, before he decided to finally finish the test. "Then go to her."

And so he did.

Only Rukia didn't approve of him sneaking into the first floor, tapping on her English class's window, threatening Hanatarou again and beckoning for her.

"What is it?" She hissed. "You're gonna get me in trouble."

"Midget," despite his funny word, his tone was pretty serious. "... I..."

"What?" she gritted her teeth and looked through the corner of her eyes. Her teacher was coming.

"I need-"

"Yes? Hurry up, my teacher's coming!" She looked at him and was kind of surprised when she saw his smiling face. "Ichi... go? You okay?"

He shook his orange head suddenly. "Nah, I thought I needed it but then I saw your face."

Her amethyst eyes blinked. "What? Needed what?"

"Nothing you need to concern yourself with." She blinked at his answer again. He was acting really strange today.

"You... sure you're okay? I can come with you to the nurse if you want."

"Listen," his lighthearted voice became slightly darker. "I'm trying to get rid of this addiction by replacing it with another less dangerous, but still a little bit more complicated one. You understand?"

Rukia gave him a funny look. "No... Fool, what's wrong with you? You're really talkative today."

He shrugged. "You know, you look really cute up close. Damn your eyes are huge. Now go away before I get turned on more."

The teacher slammed a book to her desk and Rukia instantly looked away from the window, startled. "Ms. Kuchiki, please read chapter two, paragraph four. And stop talking to yourself."

Her cheeks slightly heated up as she stuttered over some words. Damn him, it was all his fault. If he wanted to stare, he should've at least done it a bit more secretly- that way everybody was happy... She'll have to talk to him about this later.

Unfortunately for her _and_ the story, the girl completely missed his flashing amber eyes.

XxXxXxX

* * *

**I'm trying to point out that that's not Ichigo, whenever he has amber eyes**... if you missed it at some parts of the story or just wondering... lols.

**Just remember to review and alert**! C:


	12. Bonus chap: Exchanging shifts

XxXxXxX

First Day: Grimmjow's shift

XxXxXxX

Rukia was glaring, Ulquiorra remained impassive, Renji was playing with this stick thing and Grimmjow was sitting on top of Ichigo's body... the amber-eyed boy, despite this somehow impossible situation but was still happening- grinned maniacally at the four like he was high...

... quite the contrast actually. But anyways, no sarcatic pun intended; it was when the drama began.

Her eyes washed over the grinning boy with disgust- his amber eyes burned brightly like he had a bloodthirst and adrenaline was pumping through his veins excitedly. She let out a trembled sigh. Grimmjow's attention diverted from his squeaky toy that he was holding in his hands to the girl, as if expecting her to say something.

All was kind of awkward... and tense.

Still, she couldn't watch him like this. Not know when the other three pulled her from her English class while she was taking the Quarter League Test. "All of you can go," The three stood up the moment the words left her lips- like she was the Godfather and they were her hooligans... the only thing wrong with this scene was that a short, high-school girl was in charge of a bunch of delinquents. "Except Grimmjow."

The aforementioned boy stopped and sat down on Ichigo's body again. The amber-eyed boy grunted in response. Grimmjow looked at Rukia with a raised brow, his grip on the stress ball tightening and loosening, then vise-versa.

"Can you watch over him while I take my test?" She asked, he didn't say anything but she took it as a yes. "And can you tie him on a chair, in case something happens?"

Grimmjow's face split into a grin and he mock saluted Rukia. This girl was his type of boss. The amber-eyed boy's mouth opened. "Bitc-"

He was silenced by Ulquiorra's glare. Damn somber clown.

Rukia nodded at her plan and left the room without saying anything more. Nel stood up and walked over to the girl, murmuring things to her while the other delinquents followed them of their own accord.

The amber-eyed boy grunted. "Just you and me, huh?" Grimmjow didn't get up from him. "Seems like it."

"Get off me, your injuring Ichigo's body." the amber-eyed boy called. Grimmjow turned to him with a bitter grin. "Thought you said you _were _Ichigo."

The other boy scoffed. "Don't say such stupid things. I' m me... and Ichigo... It's just that if he dies, it'll be kind of bad for me and there ain't no hell I'm accepting a cliche name like 'Ichigo'."

Grimmjow thought this over. "Don't 'Ichigo' mean 'one who protects' or like the fruit?"

"Whatever it is, both are cliche." the amber-eyed lad answered.

"Your name, your problem." Grimmjow answered. The amber-eyed boy scoffed. "I told you already, dammit. It _ain't_-"

Grimmjow growled. "Shut up! God, you're too much. If the fucking name bothers you too much, why don't you make up another one?! You ain't exactly Ichigo; your eye colors're different and your voice's different."

The amber-eyed boy seemed to think this over and shrugged as much as a boy who had another boy sitting on top of him can. "Could happen."

"How about Phoenix?" the azure-eyed lad offered. The amber-eyed one looked at him with distaste. "You gay or something? That's too dramatic, this ain't no saga or some shit like that."

Grimmjow frowned. "Fine. Amber?"

"Don't even go there." the amber-eyed boy scowled.

"Hichigo?"

"The hell is with 'Ichigo' being there?"

"I don't know, maybe coz you got his same exact face?" Grimmjow answered with a snarl.

The amber-eyed boy ignored him. "Hmm... how 'bout Shirosaki? Wait a damn minnit- why the hell am I even consulting you with this!? Get off me, bastard!"

"Nah. Shirosaki is like a pretty boy name. Ain't no way in hell you're a pretty boy. More like a berserker. Oh!" he snapped his fingers and Grimmjow's face split into another grin. "Hollow!"

"I ain't emo."

"Shinosuke?"

"Get. off. me."

"The second Ichigo-"

"Shut up. I like Shirosaki. Shirosaki is my name, got that?" Grimmjow scoffed in return. "Whatever suits your ass, Hichigo."

"It's Shirosa-"

"It's a _nickname_."

XxXxXxX

Second Day: Ulquiorra's Shift

XxXxXxX

Nel stared around, raising a brow. "Where's Ulqui?"

Grimmjow blinked at that sentence, turning his attention towards their little group. "Come to think of it, that asshole's been missing when we got here."

"So what're you tryin' to say?" Renji pointed out, giving him a questioning look.

"What else, shithead?" the azure-eyed boy snapped.

Renji scowled. "Oi, stop acting so tough, kitty-cat."

"Say that one more time, and I _swear to God _I will beat your fucking-"

"Hey!" Nel screamed, breaking the argument. She glared at the two boys. "Shame on you guys!" she voiced out, frowning. "Don't be so greedy, we have a problem here!"

"So… where is Ulquiorra?" Rukia now spoke, asking silently.

Grimmjow looked at her, and then merely shrugged. "You see him here? Coz I don't."

The violet-eyed girl clicked her tongue. "He ditched us?"

"Pretty much," Renji chuckled.

"What the hell is so funny?" Grimmjow narrowed his eyes at him.

"I don't blame that guy, y'know," Shirosaki spoke, drawling his words out. "Who the hell wants to hang out with a bunch of freaks who don't have nothin' better to do? You people are sad." He emphasized on the last sentence.

"Hey, shut the fuck up." Grimmjow growled. "You're one of the sad people, you fuckin' nutcase, in fact, you're numero uno."

"At least _I'm _number one," the amber-eyed boy scoffed.

"Yeah, you're like the asshole of the year. Congrats," Renji muttered. Rukia rolled her eyes at this.

"Well, who wants to volunteer?" she said sarcastically, though meant every word of it.

"I watched over the bastard yesterday," Grimmjow grunted. She looked over to Renji, who scowled.

"I don't freaking care about anythin', I'm watching over him _tomorrow_."

"Wait-" she crinkled her nose. "So nobody wants to volunteer? But if nobody watches him, he'll go… berserk." Rukia said, in lack of a better word.

"Yeah Kuchiki, we think every minute of it." Grimmjow scoffed. "Not. Do you fucking think that we like watching this sad nutcase over here, do you? Huh? You think it's fucking _fun_?"

Rukia growled angrily, staring at Grimmjow and avoiding Shirosaki's eyes every minute. "I just don't want to look at him."

"Why the fuck not?"

"He has Ichigo's face," the girl replied sternly. "I can't talk to him straight."

"Oh, yeah, and _we _can."

She sighed, massaging her temples. "Grimmjow, Renji… _please_. Nobody seriously wants to watch over him?"

"Hey, I'm fucking here. Don't talk about me like that. It's like freaking sex harassment."

"You know, I should've ditched too." Renji nudged the azure-eyed boy, who grunted at the gesture.

"Don't touch me." He warned in a low tone. "But _totally_. You're like, fucking right."

Rukia sighed again, looking at the two with narrowed eyes. "You two are a big help."

"Thanks, I take that to heart." Grimmjow said sarcastically. Nel suddenly huffed, crossing her arms.

"Rukia-chan, don't worry, I'll watch him." She offered, smiling a bright smile.

Well, this caught their attention.

Rukia's head snapped up, "What? Nel, I couldn't _possibly_…"

"But you're a girl," Renji commented. Nel sniffed at the air, giving him a hard stare.

"You got a problem with that?" Rukia snapped, talking for her. Renji blinked. "What?"

"Seriously?" Grimmjow turned to the green-haired girl, raising a brow whilst the two argued about whether a particular one of them was sexist.

"Yes, why?" Nel arched a brow back to him.

"Keh. Just don't come screeching to me when you're fucking scared." He grinned dryly.

Nel frowned defensively. "I don't screech!"

"Oh, boo-hoo." Grimmjow scoffed. "Suck it up, you know you do."

"Hey," the amber-eyed boy called. "I'm still here!" he growled angrily, and then cursed as he struggled against the thick ropes that tied him unto the chair.

"Well, alright…" Rukia sighed, looking at Nel, who blinked and stared back at her. "Just… just be careful, okay? Nel?"

"God. I'm not gonna kill the girl." The amber-eyed boy rolled his eyes, and the rest tried to ignore him. "By the looks of these fuckin' knots that is, who did this, anyway?"

"Well... goodbye, Nel." Rukia said warily, taking a step backwards and trying to give Shirosaki a warning look.

She breathed, closing her eyes instantly once amber eyes locked with them. God, she just couldn't look at him. This boy- it was unbelievable. Extraordinary. _Ghastly._

Nel gave a small smile, waving slowly at the rest who just kind of exited.

Once everybody was gone, the amber-eyed boy smirked at Nel, who finally turned and gave him a puzzled look.

"What?" she said cautiously, pausing.

"Okay, girly, let's cut the funny business." He said, tone a little dangerous, but his lips were still smirking. "Did that girl give you my cigarettes?"

"Umm... no."

"Did she hide it anywhere?" the amber-eyed boy tried again.

"Err. No."

"Is it on this rooftop?" he asked once more, patience shortening.

"I don't think so."

"Do you know where it is?"

"No."

He inhaled sharply, staring at Nel's golden eyes. "I want my cigarette, girl."

Nel blinked. "Well you can't have it."

"Don't you fucking get catty with me," the amber-eyed boy suddenly growled, angry and pissed off. "Give me the damn cigarette. I want it. I _need _it."

"No," she told him firmly, frowning.

"Give me the damn cigarette." He said, pausing at each word.

"You can't have any." She retorted, developing a growl. This- this _guy_... what was his damage? He was scaring her a little, but he was so freaking _infuriating_.

"Who says I can't?"

"I did," she answered testily.

He bared his teeth, his brows furrowing. "Bitch, I swear, I will break your knees and make them into leg chairs, if you don't fucking _give_ _them to me now_."

"What is your problem?" she narrowed her golden eyes at him, heart beating a little fast.

"You think I'm kidding?" he scoffed, staring hard at her. "You think I really won't do it?"

Nel breathed in, telling herself to calm her nerves.

"What? Am I scarin' ya?" he smirked suddenly, a twinge of amusement crossing his features.

"No," she answered quietly.

"I am, aren't I?" his smirk widened, "Well, _girl, _I'm only _talking_ right now. Wait till I get outta this fucking chair, and then you'll see some really terrifying shit."

She raised a brow to him, and was it just her, or did a rope just snap while he was talking? He grinned maniacally.

"I do really nice sound effects, don't I?"

Nel's eyes widened, startled and terrified as something inside her clicked. She shut her eyes tight, wanting to cry and _just get the hell out of there_. "GRIMMJOW!"

Shirosaki laughed.

XxXxXxX

Third Day: Renji's Shift

XxXxXxX

"He's out. I'm in. I can _fucking_ do this." Ichigo's forehead started sweating. Renji eyed him critically while Grimmjow tried to open the strawberry's mouth more, and Ulquiorra tried to shove down the chappy bubblegum like Rukia had instructed.

Nel gave the orange-haired boy a wary look, trying not to stare. One thing was for sure, he wasn't the only one nervous and trying to get over something. His evil alter ego, for surely, had scarred her. She'd freaking scream whenever that berserker popped up. The girl stayed close to Rukia, wincing as she was reminded of yesterday.

And why, you ask, were they were following Rukia's orders so strictly? Um... life threatening situation. Cannot answer until trauma secedes.

_SPEUW_

"Dammit, Ichigo! Quit spitting the gum out!! Do you have any idea how much this little fucker cost!?" Grimmjow hollered angrily. Ulquiorra merely opened another wrapper.

"It's not my fault! I can't help it- yes I can! Dammit, yes! I will beat the living shit out of this addiction! It's probably just a hobby- like drawing! Hah! It's not even an addiction! No sweat!" Ichigo's smile broadened uneasily. Renji looked down at the timer.

"Okay," he drawled out. "It's been 2 days, 12 hours and 30 minutes since you've last had your cigarette... right?" Renji looked at Ichigo. The other boy scoffed.

"I've quit smoking before. I think I can handle this without your help."

"Yeah, but you went back again-"

Ichigo scowled. "If I did, Rukia'd beat my ass."

"-in secret. You failed." Renji added. Ichigo ignored him. "Tch. Whatever. I've got this addiction kicked out."

"You're acting damn weird, strawberry." Grimmjow eyed Ichigo's twitching eyes.

"No worries, Eyeshadow. Nicotine sucks ass. It tastes bad like hell, and I don't even know why I got hooked on it- coz I didn't! It tastes bitter and disgusting and nasty and shitty and-"

XxXxXxX

Fourth Day: Rukia's Shift

XxXxXxX

"I swear to God if you do not give me nicotine right now I will snap out of this rope and I will shove this chair into your throat and make it come out your ass."

Rukia's mouth opened then closed. She felt like she had just been sexually harassed and trying to come up with a wicked comeback after hearing that was... really hard... especially if a pair of amber eyes kept staring at your every move.

"No, Ichigo. From what you said yesterday, I think you can go on without it for a whole week." -insert signature smile- "Maybe even forever?"

Ichigo chuckled wryly. "Haha," then he quickly scowled. "You're not funny and I'm in no mood to joke around... my body is talking to me... it's fucking screaming out...! There's a voice in my head...!! Goddammit Rukia, this is not funny!"

The day didn't even start out yet and today was supposed to be Grimmjow's turn- but the delinquent didn't even arrive yet- same went for the other two. Meanwhile, a little earlier before she tied him to the chair, Rukia usually came to school early because of her ideal student reputation, and when she saw Ichigo loitering outside the school gates; she had no choice but to drag his ass to the rooftop and watch over him before he hurt someone else... again.

But perhaps it was a bad idea... Her amethyst eyes went to the side. Yes, yes it was.

Her thoughts were snapped at the same sound of the ropes snapping. Her eyes instantly widened. She was never really good at girl scouts and tying up knots. There was another snapping sound and Ichigo's hands were free... or should she call him Shirosaki since his eye color was beginning to change again.

His brown-flickering-amber irises narrowed as his face split into a grin. He felt his arms, rubbing over the red marks left from the rope three days ago. "I take it that you sucked at girl scouts, right?"

He tripped as he tried to stand up and she was thankful that Ulquiorra suggested to tie both his hands and legs to the chair.

"You're still not getting your cigarettes." Rukia said and who should she presume was now Shirosaki, looked up to her from untying the knots. He growled, baring his teeth and before the girl could even blink, he was out of the chair.

"Rukia..." his grin was getting wider as his shadow leered over her small body. She stepped back instinctively and he seemed to take great pleasure at her growing uneasiness. "No, Ichig- errm, I mean- Shirosaki... it's not fair that you take the nicotine while Ichigo's body suffers. So in short; um..." her eyes then narrowed. What the hell was she doing, was she cowering over this moronic piece of trash? -as Ulquiorra referred to Shirosaki-. With a firm voice this time, she spoke, "Hell. NO." another step backwards and then the girl quickly took off.

Shirosaki's grin widened as he chased after her. Killer instinct, you know, he never really wondered about it.

XxXxXxX

Rukia was fumbling for her cell phone as her fingers shakily ran over the numbers. There was only one thing on her mind; Ichigo's evil alter ego and not being killed by _it_.

_Grimmjow. Grimmjow. Grimmjow_. Her mind chanted over and over again as she flipped through her contacts. Wait- did Grimmjow even have a cell phone?! The letter 'G' then caught her eye and she almost cried at happiness. She pressed a button and the phone rang.

"RUKIA!" the voice rang everywhere, throughout the school and the girl's pulse quickened. Footsteps were getting nearer and nearer and her mind was screaming for the azure-eyed boy to pick up or hell was going to happen today.

"Yerlo?" A gruff voice answered, Rukia fumbled for words. "Shiro... school... nicotine... NOW!" A pause, then Grimmjow responded. "What? I'm eating breakfast, call strawberry."

A frustrated scream erupted in Rukia's throat and the girl snapped, "How the hell can I call strawberry when his friggin body is possessed by some kind of THING that wants to kill me cause I didn't give IT any cigarette, and crap it's in my locker and I forgot my combination!?"

_Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeepppppppppppppppppp._

She stared incredulously at her phone. He hung up!?

"Little bunny rabbit, where are you?" Rukia didn't dwell on how that sentence didn't make sense at all, but at the fact that she needed to call Renji right now or she would be killed by the owner of said sentence that didn't make sense at all.

The phone rang and she will make her brother fire her phone company for ringing too slow, even if she had to drag her brother's ass and dress him, stuff pancakes into his throat and shove him into the limo at 5:00 am.

PICK UP, GODDAMIT!

"Yeah, who's this?" Renji's voice answered. Rukia quickly sputtered; as if she lost all her thinking process and the lesson at health where you needed to be calm at situations like these. Yes, you are currently stalked by some deranged boy's evil alter ego, you are short and he is a hell of a lot taller than you and you need to act calm and be devoid of any emotions so you can handle the problem . Okay, then she'll go meditate when Japan gets hit by an earthquake; yes.

She was lucky that she didn't faint and piss on her skirt. Hell she was acting pretty calm herself right now if she was able to hold unto her cell phone and not drop it.

"Shirosaki... bunny rabbit... he said... get your ass here!" Rukia snapped angrily, there was another long pause before Renji answered. "My ass is currently on the toi-"

"ARGH!" she pressed end and the line vanished.

"You can run, and you can hide but I'll still get you!"

What the hell was up with his weird sayings!? It's "You can run but you can't hide", motherfucker! It comforted her to know that her 'stalker' was a little slow in the head. She didn't have Ulquiorra's number and that bastard thing was getting nearer to her. However, Rukia had a feeling what the somber clown's number would be.

She pressed zero on her cell phone several times before it rang.

A grunt was heard on the other side of the line, and she sighed at relief. "Ul-Ulquiorra?" Rukia hesitated. Wait- what if this was an _actual_ criminal's number- or worse, that bastard thing's?

"What?" the voice grunted again. Rukia's mouth opened and she _was_ just about to say something if her amethyst eyes hadn't caught a boy with amber ones currently standing over her. His right hand was placed at the wall beside her, his mouth was grinning, and she accidentally pressed 'end'.

XxXxXxX

Later

XxXxXxX

He carried her unconscious body over his shoulder and his thoughts kind of drifted. He never really wanted to scare her that bad- wait, yes, yes he did. That was the whole point on why he made such a huge entrance- but he quickly lost interest when somewhere at the point where the girl almost kicked his shin, she knocked her head back to the wall and then fainted. T'was sad and boring, really... and though the urge for nicotine was still high, it was currently being replaced by some other one.

The gum?

Maybe.

The (temporary) freedom of finally escaping out of that sissy's mind?

Maybe.

Scaring the shit out of the girl and seeing her furious expression?

Maybe.

He didn't know. Or cared. At the moment. Or at all.

XxXxXxX

* * *

A/N: Edited. C:

**Just some bonus chapter** **because I finally reached 100!** I really thank you guys!! And yes, this IS part of the plot. And I'm kinda wondering, are some of you reading the rhymes at the top? You don't have to say anything- just wondering! And thank you again!

**Although I'd appreciate you more if you review both the previous chapter and this chapter**, but 'tis okay if you don't. I love ya anyways!

**Alert and review would** **rocks my socks,** by the way.


	13. Tell and receive

A little bit is revealed,  
Of the past that cannot heal,  
As the girl's tries to conceal,  
And the boy's is almost at yield,  
Because TOMFOOLERY is the only thing that appeals,  
To this world that is all too real.

* * *

Gas surrounded their gate as an orange-haired teen leaned against it. A SLAM! was heard and a grin was seen. Footsteps tapped in the early morning and neared their house, nearing the teen before the gas floated around more and before it had to fly off.

A black-haired man with a stubby beard smiled at his son, reaching his hand to ruffle his orange hair but only got slapped back.

"Don't touch me." He said in a bored tone, mouth scowled, eyebrows furrowed. Just like yesterday and the day before that.

"Ah, I see that my son is going into that stage! Daddy is proud." The man beamed, the boy scoffed.

"Where're you going?"

The grin faltered a little but came back, stronger and perhaps a little more forced this time. "Son understands that Daddy needs to make a lot of money- in order to raise three beautiful children and feed them properly, neh?"

The boy scoffed again. "You're going out of town, aren't you?"

"Just a little while. Two days at the most." The father replied with a smile. "Don't miss me, 'kay? Daddy will be heartbroken if he caused his son some heartache."

"We have a clinic, what's the point?" The teen replied, changing the subject. The father sighed tiredly, but only joked with the boy. "Ah, if I had known that my son was stupid, I would've recommended him some prescriptions. But of course, our clinic isn't sufficient enough- what with another hospital just two streets over."

The younger lad grunted in return. "The rich bastards?" the stubby-bearded man couldn't help but laugh at his son's words. "Yes, the rich bastards are stealing Daddy's customers. So now Daddy has to go to another town and work there for a little bit, considering that –ahem- I have a degree in medicine," he winked at his son.

The orange-haired boy's scowl returned suddenly. "What'll I tell them?"

Then the father seemed to sigh again, longer this time. "I'm sorry, Ichigo. It's a little bit hard _now_, isn't it?" The teen did not reply but kept a steady gaze at the man he called 'pops'. "Tell them… that I'll bring them gifts when I return! Yes, my daughters love those. I kind of spoil them, don't I? I'm such a good, generous family man, aren't I?" then his grin returned humorously. "And of course, being the helpful father that I am- I'll bring _you_ a girlfrie-"

"Your cab's waiting." The son pointed out bluntly, Isshin nodded in return. Nodding and smiling. "Yes, well, I'll see you by then. Don't have any wild parties unless you leave a message!" with that said, the man walked away slowly.

The teen stood up and walked back inside the house. In the opposite direction, footsteps faded under the early morning, a SLAM! was heard once again, a wave was seen but not noticed, gas littered the street, and soon, the car flew off.

He knew, as he opened the doorknob and climbed up the stairs with a steady rhythm of_ thud. thud. thud_. that his sisters wouldn't believe the lie. They made enough money to support school, food, clothing, and luxuries. The only reason his father was going out of town was not because he didn't love his children anymore, but because he wanted to get away from the clinic as far away as possible- seeming torn from the decision of moving away in order to get rid of the horrible memories, or staying to savor the good ones.

Because well, the clinic, was where their mother had died. No, he had already killed her then- he should say; the clinic… was where their mother's dead body laid the longest before it rotted.

His chest wrenched painfully as a muffled noise came erupting at his throat. It was _his_ fault, dammit. It would be so much easier on him if they had just blamed him and cast him off as the killer- but instead; they still smiled at him. Like everything was all right, when it wasn't. Yuzu scrambled for any chores to do, wanting to get rid of the thought that her mother was dead, and Karin bottled her emotions, saying that she didn't care when her brother killed her mother.

There was an emptiness all around, but nobody dared to point it out bluntly. The woman was what pulled them altogether, like gravity. And... _he killed her_- damn, he just said that to you, didn't he?

Ichigo shook his head, hoping to rearrange the thoughts and dwell on them after he was back to his bed- seeing as this was a Saturday morning and it was _really fucking _early to basically do anything else. There had been a series of fade-outs and amnesia during last week, he didn't really know why. But all the thoughts soon vanished when he saw a dirty blonde head pop out of a corner.

The little dirty blonde head smiled at him, and his past washed over his conscious all over again.

"Yuzu, you're awake…?" he asked, much to his chagrin. His sister nodded, then smiled broader. "By the way, breakfast is ready!"

He scowled suddenly. "That quick? But it's 6 in the morning…" then the television downstairs turned on. His scowl worsened and out came a groan. "I suppose Karin's awake now?"

"Yep!" Yuzu chirped happily, scrambling down the stairs to fix the magazines on the floor. He stepped down too, only heavier and slower, eyeing his other sister strangely.

Usually, like him, Karin would wake up at noontime, then doze a little more before coming downstairs to eat. But this time, however, her black hair swung around as she stared at Ichigo dully.

"What?" she demanded. He stared at the dark circles underneath her eyes. Ah, so she woke up _too early_. She seemed to notice his staring and scowled immensely, "You have one too, dammit."

"Yours is worse though," he argued back and sat down gruffly.

"Ichi-nii, we… woke up when we heard a car driving past our house," Yuzu explained hesitantly as she poured herself orange juice. Ichigo stopped eating a bit, but resumed just like how a scowl started appearing on his face. "Dad left… didn't he?" she gazed down at her cereal. The TV volume was increased; seeming that Karin didn't want to hear _any of it_. As for Ichigo, he grunted in return; he was used to breaking their hearts, used to all of the tears. He was always the one who told the bad news, anyway.

XxXxXxX

"Byakuya–sama just left, Rukia-san," the maid who served her food said. She stopped eating her pancakes, the fork hanging from her mouth, then blinked.

"So?" she tried to sound nonchalant about it. It was the same everyday, anyway, he always left the house early in the morning then returned at midnight… it seemed that his job was scheduled just to avoid her.

"But-"

"I don't care," she finished the conversation. There, problem solved. Sure, there was a tiny pang in her chest but it was part of the morning ritual: almost necessary as waking up. It didn't even count anymore. If he ignored her when she was but a child, what made her think that he was going to pay attention now that she was a teenager?

She looked at the pancakes moodily- as if it were a crystal that showed her her memories: good stuff and bad stuff. What was worse though- it seemed to start at the beginning; where things were a little hazy and troublesome. Right when she was taken out of the streets, into the orphanage, and then into a mansion. It was a shock; really, moving into places that were bigger than what she had imagined... or knew existed.

She had lived off on the streets before some people who actually took pity, reported her and sent her into the orphanage. And of course she was adopted several times, but her 'parents' couldn't handle her long enough- saying that she was too expensive as she was thin and sickish as a child, or that she made too many ruckus. Well the hell to them, she didn't want them anyway.

Then along came a day when a limo parked outside of the orphanage. A tall man walked out of the long car with such grace and elegance that bystanders wondered why he came into the dirty part of town. The owner blinked when that particular, beautiful man asked for her- even being specific as to her features. The owner tried to persuade his choice, to get little Hana who was kind and who far more deserved it, than her who had a sharp tongue and was probably just an ungrateful child.

But the beautiful man said no, and demanded for little Rukia. She, in return to his kindness, wanted to prove that she was indeed grateful and tried to behave like a noble lady, even when things went a little out of hand. Though after a particular day, she felt guilty that he didn't send her back to the greedy orphanage, even when she killed a man- _oops_, did she just say that?

She blinked at her thoughts and unconsciously stood up, grabbing a jacket and heading for the door. She asked for the limo driver to go far away from the mansion, but the man told her no. All the servants became a little touchy when she came into their lives, ungrateful and cold. They didn't want to serve a lady who was the same kind as they were; from the streets, and often disobeyed her wishes when the beautiful man wasn't there.

Rukia's gaze turned low and she frowned. Well, whatever, she was used to it. She was always the one who received the bad news, anyway.

XxXxXxX

Yuzu blinked at the sight in front of her. A limo mostly blocked all of the street's passageway, but silenced the waiting cars in all its glamorous glory. A short girl, (she'll probably catch up to her height in about 3 years) stepped out of the sleek, black car, adorned in a cute, white and pink rabbit themed pajamas and a shiny, white overcoat. Charcoal bangs fell in her face, but never hid the pretty violet eyes that she had.

Aside from all this, her haircut was pretty much average as it got.

Yuzu blinked again. The girl smiled at her charmingly, her voice too high-pitched and light, much like those girls in anime. "Is Ichigo here?"

Karin walked to the front steps, after seeing a rich girl's car blocking the street. "Who're you? Ichi-nii says we can't talk to strangers."

"Oh?"

The two girls were momentarily blinded by the... _how do you say this?_ Sweetness...? Fakedness...? Too-feminine-ness...? Well, it was something sugary- of her voice.

"But he asked me to help him watch over you guys,"

Yuzu quickly tapped Karen's shoulder, gently hitting her several times. Her eyes widened as she did this. "K-Karin-chan, let her in."

Karin turned to her sister. "Why?" Yuzu gave her a look and Karin blinked, her mouth opening then closing. She looked back at the girl who stood in their doorway, and a smirk began to form on her lips. "OH..." _'Help'_, _eh? _"Okay, come in. Ichi-nii's been expecting you _for years now_."

Rukia snorted as she stepped inside, totally missing the hint. "I doubt that."

XxXxXxX

He lighted a white stick on fire, pocketing the others inside his pocket. Smoke started to form as he inhaled its sweet fragrance. He yawned a bit, wanting to sleep but seemed that he couldn't anymore, so he moved on to his next favorite hobby. Turning the cigarette around his fingers and playing with it, Ichigo was about to bring it to his mouth when a VHOOOOWWP! was heard.

The white stick dropped to the ground, and his foot instantly smashed his beloved cigar into pieces.

Yuzu looked at her brother who seemed to be sitting _fairly_ calmly at the rooftop. She had opened the window in order to get a hold of him, as his brother's bedroom window was the only access to get to their house's rooftop. "Ichi-nii?"

His back faced his sister. "What?" he scowled immediately.

"The babysitter's here!"

Ichigo turned around then, scowl deepening. "What do you mean she's here? I chewed her ass for comin' to my bedroom without my permission!"

"Oh dear me, such a cruel boy you are," a voice so sweet it sent chills down his spine. Ichigo couldn't help but growl. He knew that fake voice, and apparently- he was the only one who could distinguish that it was a sham. Most of the world thought it was really her voice. That she was one of those innocent, angel-like girls who were born once in a decade. Yes, she was, when Hell froze over. "Rukia..." His voice hissed.

"You scare me," the girl said dramatically, wiping an invisible tear. She resisted the urge to lose her facade and smirk triumphantly over at the carrot-top, as his expression told her to fuck off. But she couldn't say no to this opportunity, it was already happening anyways.

"Umh, I guess I should leave you two alone then?" Yuzu offered, giving them a weak smile.

"No, dear girl! Don't leave me with this _awful_ young man!" Rukia sobbed, Yuzu shot Ichigo a slight look of hesitation. _Should I? Will you hurt her? Because you look annoyed right now. _He could read the words out of her brown eyes.

"Yes, Yuzu, leave. I'll deal with this." Ichigo seethed venomously, changing his attention back to the jet-black-haired girl and glaring. Yuzu looked one more time to Rukia, then slowly straightened from the window, leaving in a form of anxious sauntering.

Rukia smirked as soon as Ichigo's little sister left. She trudged one leg over the window and climbed swiftly like the height of a narrow, two-story building didn't bother her. Ichigo scowled at her presence, rummaging around in his pocket for another stick of cancer.

"Quite the attentive older brother, aren't you? Leaving your little sisters to attend to the door and greet strangers."

"Shut up," he scowled darkly "I saw your head when you came out of that limo, so I didn't leave them. I try my best." he unconsciously murmured the last part to himself.

"Pardon?" Rukia's eyebrow rose. Ichigo made an irritated noise, "I said I saw you."

"The last part," she stated clearly. "That didn't sound like what you said."

"Depends. Did you hear it?" he asked hotly and her finger drooped. "No," she said vaguely, then frowned at his tone. "Why're you so tense?"

He looked at her, taking out the cigarette from his lips and exhaling out smoke. "Why're you so depressed?"

"I'm anything but depressed." her frown worsened. Then she looked at him as well, "Besides, I asked you first."

"You're not answering," he said teasingly, changing the subject.

"Neither are you," Rukia began to growl. She _hated_ ridicule. "I don't have to answer if I don't want to." he retorted at her and again sucked at the cancer stick.

Rukia huffed lightly, and awkward silence soon regained both teens. Her gaze lifted slightly and she stared disgustingly at his cigarette. "You're sick, you know that?" she commented quietly. "More so because you actually smoke at the presence of your sister- Yuzu, was it?"

Ichigo paused, and then his conscience forced him to crush his beloved cigar against the rooftop. "To the first question- I'm not sick. To the statement- I didn't do it while she was here. To the last question- yes." he gritted his teeth to get his body-induced-nicotine preoccupied. "She doesn't _even_ know."

"Don't know what?" She asked, wanting his voice to be more determined and irritated like usual.

"Smoking. What else is there?" he scowled. "They _don't_ fucking know. You happy now?" His eyebrows furrowed and his scowl set deeper.

Rukia growled in return. "Stop being so prissy about it. Isn't that a good thing that they don't know?"

His mouth opened, then closed, and then opened again. A groan escaped his lips as he buried his face into his hands suddenly. "I dunno, I guess, maybe. Ah, screw this." he peeked his brown eye out to the sitting girl who was raising an eyebrow. He scowled deeply and ran a hand through his hair like a wave. "I guess I just-"

"What?" she led him on. Like this was some sort of case and he was the criminal who was about to confess the answer.

"Shut up, don't cut me off," he growled, but his anger flitted away when her eyebrows rose even more. He paused and his mouth hung, "I have to tell you about my past and say something really cliché right now, don't I?"

Rukia smirked. "There's a good boy, you finally get the picture. Don't worry, I won't include it on my reports." it had been intended as a joke, but it seemed to have no effect on the male.

"Oh yeah, that," he silently murmured- more so to himself. "Anyway," Ichigo mumbled curses at what he was about to say. "My mom died when I was small as you," the jet-black-haired girl frowned at the insult, and he allowed himself to smirk. Yes, it was a distraction from all the bitter, anguish thoughts and mixed emotions that he was feeling right now.

An insult made its way at the tip of her tongue and she bit it, remembering the latter part of the sentence. Rukia summoned her voice and asked dryly, "How?"

His back had tensed and he instantly found a cigarette to his lips, unaware how and when he even rummaged into his pocket and lit it on the first place. "Shit happened, you understand- right?" He turned to her and Rukia's fist clenched.

Ichigo gave her a wry smile, wanting to slap himself again for being proud. "Oh, you don't? My bad."

Her amethyst eyes snapped up. "Actually, I-"

He gave her a cold stare with one brow hanging in the air. Her breath deflated. It was_ just_ on the tip of her tongue. "I-"_ I know the feeling _"I'm sorry."

The boy gave a sad smile, "Yeah, I am too."

"You don't have to continue, I can listen to you whenever you want to say anything." her voice started to crack. "You already got it out of me, and its just gon'be awkward if I don't say it right now."

"You think it won't be awkward after you say it?"

He looked at her and inhaled slightly. "It... doesn't matter anymore. I'm used to saying all the bad news." _I had to tell them she died._

"That's funny," Rukia said with a small, wry smile. "Because I'm used to hearing it." _The doctor had to tell me he didn't survive._

Ichigo scratched at his cheek, then let his hand run through his hair briskly. "WELL, it started out like any other normal fucking day. How was I supposed to know that June 17 would be the damnest of 'em all?"

Rukia eyed the boy intently as he continued talking. His voice began to dry and his body seemed to crave more nicotine.

In the beginning, or so he told and as what she imagined, he had been a smiling mama's boy who was on his way to karate practice. Why? Because the strawberry wanted to protect the whole fruit bowl. It wasn't a surprise, until he said that Tatsuki beat him like a hundred times. He argued that something was just in his eye. Or in better terms: she owned him and he always cried.

But then at the end of every practice, how badly beaten up or bruised he was; an angel would come. And he would smile. Whenever 'something got in his eye', once the angel came- all of it would vanish and he would grin like the health department just announced that candy was healthy.

The same routine went on for a couple of days, Ichigo said, "Until there came that time when we were walkin' home that day and it was kinda dark and raining. Then some bastard 's car sped by and splashed me with water,"

His mom had offered to switch their spots so that he couldn't get wet anymore. But he refused because he wanted to protect her.

Ichigo shrugged. "Pop's said something about my name having to do with 'protect' in it, so that's what I did. I wanted to protect a whole damn lot of people, and it just got worse by the time my sisters were born. The feeling just basically grew as I kept on meeting new people."

And at that particular day, dark and raining and all, he saw a little girl about his age that looked like she was heading into the river. That she looked like she was about to jump in there. And drown herself.

Rukia kept silent, the feeling of dread washing over her body. Ichigo just smiled bitterly with his eyebrows still furrowed and continued.

On instinct, he ran to the girl with his mother yelling for him to stop. But of course he wouldn't just leave her hanging there- while he snapped some sense back to the little girl. He wanted his mother to be by his side.

"So I could watch her too. Kill two birds with one stone,"

And that he did. But the little girl disappeared, and when he turned, he thought he saw the little girl running over to a woman, presumably her mother. What he saw just a second ago was merely a silhouette of the little girl's shadow, and the real one was safely tucked under her mother's warm embrace.

"But when I turned to see MY mother, all I saw was a car, blood, and us in the middle of it. I think my mom took heart that a parent's problem went to her child, so she smiled at me,"

It could've either been a sad one, or a happy one because her son had survived.

"I don't know. I was too busy starin' at my hand tugging on hers,"

Eyes wide and mouth hanging open.

"I was too busy staring at her body bein' smashed against a car,"

And his hand still tugged on hers, leading her. It was what caused the beautiful angel to go back to Heaven. Because a little boy held her hand and tugged on it, his grip tight and shaking, wouldn't_- couldn't_- let go even when the car already snapped her arm and broke her body and spilled her blood.

"I didn't really kill her," brown eyes looked at violet ones. "You could say I just lead her there. Ever killed someone you loved, midget?"

Why yes, yes, she had. And the thought of them having the same sins, different scenarios and balancing each other's past fueled the girl to slap the boy's forehead.

"What the hell- !"

"- are you doing then?" her rigid voice snapped at him. Hissing. Ashamed. Cold and edgy. "You said your mother spent her life so you could live!! Her heart's inside yours, and you destroy it by smoking?"

Ichigo looked bewildered, but furious the next second. While she hissed, he seethed. "Shut the _fuck up_. Do you even know the fucking story? You didn't let me finish, dammit." he inhaled sharply and pinched his nose bridge, cooling the thrashing memories. "... she thought... it was cool."

Rukia blinked, her anger deflating slowly as she arched a brow. "What?"

"Smoking," he scowled. His anger too, somehow dissipated. "When I was 15, I asked pops why he smoked every time we came to her grave. He said 'because your mother thought it was cool' and grinned at me. So I smoke because I thought that she was cool too, except what she did made me feel all shitty inside. Cigarettes. You get it?"

Rukia paused, but then nodded stiffly. "You smoke... because you feel that you should do it...? I am not saying that I understand because obviously, I didn't experienced the same pain as you, but I know you're hurting because Ichigo," she smirked somewhat bitterly, "You're kind of showing it. Your eyes saw something that any child shouldn't have seen and you're blaming yourself. You smoke because you thought of your dying mother, and hell, I'd slap you myself if you didn't."

His mouth immediately opened to form into a scowl and say something, but she cut him off again. "However-" A look of tenability flashed across her face. A shiver ran down her spine and she sighed shakily. "Look, let me tell you a story instead."

"I hate stories."

"Well you're going to listen." Rukia hissed and the boy grunted to say that yes, he was going to listen... somewhat. "There was this man and this girl. The man asks the girl where the heart is, and the girl points to her chest. But the man says no, bringing his fist up to him and grinning. The girl looks at him, asking what he meant. And the man says that he thinks the true heart lies in every action, every word that you do. That you say. This man believed that the heart is reborn every time you act, think, breathe, live. This man said that if you cannot share these with anyone, then you are better off heartless." amethyst eyes stared at brown ones intently.

"What's the morale then?" Ichigo raised a brow, scowling. "The point. What's the point? I shared my past with you, so tell me why the hell you're saying this to me. What's it got to do with this screwed up life?"

"That ultimately, under any circumstances, do not die alone. That the heart passes on and moves to the person closest to their hearts. So they can live on with them. So they can never feel lonely. Betrayed. Chained." Rukia replied smoothly. Lowly. "So that your mother's heart lies within you, so you won't degrade it. _So you won't waste it_. Don't dirty your mother and yourself-"

"I'm not."

"- even if you're feeling guilty, thinking every second of her. Don't let your conscience eat your brain, fool. It's just there to remind you that the feeling won't fade a little, unless you don't do anything and make something out of it. I am not saying that the guilt will all vanish away, but when life gives you shit, crap it out- better yet, compromise with a farmer and make it a fertilizer." She smirked now. "You get it?"

Ichigo scowled in return, but couldn't help grinning the next second. "Hell. NO." he rummages for a cigarette. "Whatever the crap you just mentioned, no I don't really get it."

Rukia smiled. "So I'll help you." _Hypocrite_.

He lights the stick. "That whatever the shit you just said, I'm not understanding it."

Her smile broadened. "So I'll teach you." _Hypocrite, Rukia._

He brings it to his lips. "That whatever the _fuck_ you just told, I don't wanna do it."

Her eyes narrowed, but her smile almost let out a chuckle. "So I'll make you." _Hypocrite, Rukia, you can't even solve your own problems._

He releases the smoke. "Are you?"

"Lunch is ready!" Yuzu calls out from the window.

Not minding that her sister was there, he repeats it again, whispering. Seething. His heart tightening and her stomach twisting. "Will you?"

* * *

**Yeah, um, sorry for the late update**, but I had something planned on the weekend.

**And originally, this was going to be longer**, but I was like: "What the hell, it adds dramatic tension anyway."

**So yeah, uh, sorry if it's a little boring though**. But hey, we gotta start SOMEWHERE, right? **And yeah, drama's kind of forming. Lolz. But there's still humor. Oh God, I suck at angsting.**

Alert's all good,** but reviewing is EVEN BETTER.**


	14. If she just knocked

Because I don't know you yet,  
And you're more than upset,  
About how the whole thing came through,  
So as you light your cigarette,  
I'll chance a little sweat,  
And go to the TOMFOOLERY,  
Asking if the jackass has a clue.

* * *

She stood by the door, that same look on her face as always, yet inside, she felt awful. She held a contemplative look, with scowled lips and furrowed brows, yet inside; she just wanted to go.

He lay in bed, reading, that same look on his face as always, and inside, he felt the same feeling that his face showed. He held a blank look, with uncaring eyes and grim lips, and somewhere inside, he didn't really wanted her to go just yet.

Rukia's fist was poised at the door, clenched and balled, waiting to be thumped against the wooden door.

Should she tell him?

Should she help him?

Should she even go to him?

But more importantly, did he want to?

All these thoughts were in her mind, and she figured that he was the type that really didn't want to talk about it. At least, not now, not right now where they barely knew each other, and that they really didn't know what to say once she comes a' knocking at his door.

Should she apologize?

Should she just talk?

Should she give him a teasing smirk, say to stop being moody and pretend that nothing ever happened?

More importantly, though, did he want to listen? Did he want her to say those or just go and fuck off?

Ichigo's head turned away from the book in his hands for a slight second, and glanced at the shadow that was dancing numbly at his door.

Rukia's fist was poised to knock; she held a grim look and her fist slowly came back to her side, unmoving now. She backed away from the door, and then fled down the stairs.

He knew she was there, but what's more, he knew by the thumping sound that was going farther and farther now, that she wasn't there anymore.

He turned back to his book and flipped a page silently, uncaring and a little glad, as he should've been.

But she promised.

XxXxXxX

25 minutes ago

XxXxXxX

Lunch passed by, tense and slow, but it passed. And all they've been doing up until now, were playing board games.

"Are you going now, Rukia-chan?" Yuzu asked her.

Rukia was startled at the sudden question, since everybody was quiet at the start of the game. She picked up her piece and moved it 5 times, as the dice instructed, and stopped just beside the jail spot. "Uhmm," Rukia looked up at the clock. "It's about 3:03, and I think I have to go to someplace."

"You think?" Karin asked, turning away from the TV and to the violet-eyed girl.

"Yes, well, I'm not quite certain if that person will allow me inside his house, but- yeah. I need to ask another occupant there something personal-err, important."

"Oh. Okay," Yuzu smiled. "So I guess we should clean up now?"

"I guess so," Rukia started slowly. "I'm sorry you guys for going so suddenly, the next time I come here-" she hesitated at her words and the little girls in front of her gave her puzzled looks. "We'll do something fun." She decided, thinking that those words were safe.

Karin raised a brow at her, suddenly. "Should we tell Ichi-nii that you're going?"

Rukia tensed. "I'll… tell him myself."

XxXxXxX

Present

XxXxXxX

A loud step suddenly comes thumping down the stairs, and Karin and Yuzu pause to see Rukia walking down the last step of the staircase.

The violet-eyed girl smiles sheepishly as she reaches the floor. "I guess I'm going now,"

Yuzu nods, but then pauses. "So, are you coming back next weekend?"

"I'm not sure, but," Rukia stops at her sentence. "-but… I want to help."

Yuzu smiled at her. "I'm sure you will, Rukia-chan."

"Did you tell Ichi-nii?" Karin asks her again. "Coz I didn't hear any door opening."

"Err," Rukia looked at the door through the corner of her eyes. "He's busy."

"Do you want us to tell him? He'll be worried, you know." Yuzu says.

Rukia gulped down the thing called dread and looked at the girls. She swallows. "If he asks,"

"Okay then." Yuzu nods again.

"Well, um, bye." the girl said awkwardly, opening the closet door to fetch out her coat. As she made her way towards the door, Yuzu slowly got up and opened the door for her, the dirty-blonde-haired girl's smile suddenly turning a little sad.

"Oh, Yuzu, don't worry," Rukia's eyes softened. These girls were so sweet, screw Ichigo for being such a terrible brother. But then again… she sighed inwardly, cutting of her thoughts and giving Yuzu a small smile. "When I come back… we'll… we'll play house."

"No, that's not it," the younger girl says as she shakes her head. "But, um, hey Rukia-chan, you don't have to worry about us, just take care of yourself," she informs her, trying to be cheerful. "You're the first person to ever try anything and actually make it- and I guess what I'm trying to say is that we appreciate you two pretending for us." She was smiling now.

"Wha-" Rukia begins to ask, a puzzled look on her face before her words dropped. She stops dead at her sentence, the little girl's words dawning on her. "W-wait!" her eyes widened for a split second before she briskly turns around in her heel, to the door, just to see Karin waving.

"Later, Rukia-chan,"

Then the door softly thumps close.

Rukia's eyes were still wide as she inhaled and exhaled rather fiercely. The look on her face was a mix of distress and idiocy.

They knew?

XxXxXxX

The two words haunted her as she dragged her feet out of their gate and unto the sidewalk.

Well, it wouldn't be much of a surprise since they lived together and Ichigo wasn't really the most outgoing person on Earth. He seemed more like a couch slob rather than the type who happily went outside his house to play soccer.

It was a little sad, though. That they knew that he smoked, and he was so hell-bent on keeping it all bottled up from them. So much that he decided to just ignore her prying about his past.

The Kurosaki family. You'd think, by the way they were so nonchalant and seemed to forget about yesterday's troubles, that they were so laid-back. But that was just because they were so good at hiding their emotions and keeping it restrained, all tucked away in the back of their minds as they tried to forget about it.

And right now,

"_You're the first person to ever try anything and actually make it- and I guess what I'm trying to say is that we appreciate you two pretending for us."_

It made her guilty, that she wasn't doing anything now. That she didn't talk to Ichigo. But it wasn't her fault. Actually, yes it was. But she couldn't just go in there and talk to him, say it wasn't his fault and say that everything was going to be alright. Because it won't be. She couldn't just burst out into his life and pretend that they were childhood friends. Because they weren't.

Things like these, it needed time. And guidance.

Lots of it.

XxXxXxX

Steam scattered out of the shower, fogging the mirrors and damping the counters. It felt refreshing, not too cold or hot, just right. It cut down the cold air that was supposed to meet him, as his feet stepped out of the shower and into the open, only a bath towel draped low across his waist.

He walked across the hallway and into his room, opening the door and grabbing the random clothes that were thrown at his bed. He pulled the pants up, pushed the shirt down and adjusted its position on his chest.

He grabbed a towel and rubbed it against his hair, walked down the stairs, and opened the door leisurely.

"What?" Ulquiorra Schiffer spoke; his eyes still closed whilst he dried his hair, as though they needn't be open for something as trivial as greeting company.

Rukia looked at him; her fist poised to knock on the door again when he opened it, and instead collided against the boy's stomach with a soft 'thump'. "Oh, you showered." She said awkwardly, observing his slackened hair and drawing back her poised fist.

Green eyes opened. "Yes." he answered curtly and to-the-point.

"I didn't know you'd be the one opening the door." Rukia began, giving him an uneasy look.

"Neither did I," His gaze seemed to shift inside the house, to where several strings of curses and 'fucks' could be heard.

"You're awfully quiet, aren't you?" she raised a brow.

His attention drifted back to her, and he simply stared, as if saying '_What's your point?'_

"Where's Nel?" Rukia finally asked, sighing and giving up on making small talk. It was just _impossible_.

"Somewhere." He muttered back, not really caring.

Her brows furrowed at him a bit. "Are you going to let me in? I need to talk to Nel."

"It depends. What is your business here?"

She scowled at his response, and then just elbowed his stomach softly, pushing him to the side and invited herself in.

Ulquiorra stared at her back quietly and proceeded on sitting himself on the couch that was settled at the middle of the room. The 'family' agreed on putting it there, rather than some of the member's suggestions of interior decoration. Probably because the main provider of the household was too lazy to walk all the way to the 'family' room, and they intended to argue about the pettiest of things.

Meanwhile, Grimmjow growled lowly, crouching as he continued to peek and scour from underneath the sofa. His eyes peered at the dusty regions and he stuck his hand inside, growling lower when he couldn't feel a cool, rectangular shape.

"Dammit, where the fuck did that puss leave the remote?!"

"Did you check underneath the sofa pillows," Ulquiorra's voice suddenly intruded, and the azure-eyed boy could only snarl at him.

"Yes, I have checked underneath the goddamn sofa pillows." Grimmjow answered through gritted teeth, annoyed at his cousin's being-helpfulness. Of all the days to pick, why on HIS Saturday and why when they were together? It was unbearable whenever the green-eyed rock ordered him around at the excuse of 'trying to help'. "And it's not fucking there," he added, matter-of-factly.

"His room," the green-eyed boy suggested again, his tone of voice coming out as a statement instead of a question. He didn't _need_ question marks; it wasn't really how the boy did things. The only reason he decided to help his so-called 'family member' was because the television set was the only thing that provided sensible entertainment around here. And it'd be god-forsakenly, Lord help us- _aggravating_, to see the blue-haired maniac cursing around the house for how many times now, whining and groaning about a lost remote.

"Did you check his room," he said again.

"Hell no," Grimmjow frowned, standing up and dusting his fingers on his cargos. "Why the hell should _I_ go into his room? Who the fuck wants to _go_ inside that fruit-loop's room anyway?"

"Then I suggest you stop being so squeamish about things, and continue on."

"Suggest this," Grimmjow growled, and gave his cousin the middle finger.

Ulquiorra scoffed, crossing his arms. "Simpleton. You ought to have more diverse comebacks than that."

As the two continued to argue, quite calmly if she were asked for her opinion, Rukia took a look around, observing the two cousins' home. It was… normal, so to say. The furniture matched like a disfigured rainbow, and there were paintings nailed to most of the wall. The plants weren't really considered as ordinary, but everything was normal and average, and most importantly, NOT a circus tent.

She turned on her heels, looking back at the bickering relatives. "Doesn't the TV have buttons on it?"

The two stopped momentarily, and Grimmjow looked up at her, blinking. "Kuchiki. How the hell did you get in here?"

"I materialized," Rukia replied sarcastically.

"Well, fuck. That's a real possibility, you know, since your so fucking _short_ and all." A grin was starting to split into Grimmjow's face. Rukia rolled her eyes.

"Yes, by all means, insult the short people."

The grin broke and Grimmjow scoffed. "Well now that you're admitting it and shit, it ain't no fun anymore." He muttered, going about the room and turning things upside-down, literally, to search for the lost remote. "So, what're you doin' here?"

"I wanted to talk to Nel." Rukia said, and narrowed her eyes when Grimmjow stopped, and gave her a look as if she were demented.

"Kuchiki, Veggie-head doesn't live here." He stated slowly, making sure that the small girl got the point.

"I am aware of that," Rukia resisted the urge to slap her forehead. "But I thought that maybe she was visiting you guys."

"Visiting? Why the hell would she visit if we see each other every _fucking_ day in school?"

"What?" she gave Grimmjow a sudden confused look, her eyebrows knitting a little. "But- but-"

The blue-haired boy gave her the same 'you-stupid-or-sumthing?' look once more. "_But- but_- what? What the hell is your problem?"

An angry sigh was let loose by Rukia as she dismissed Grimmjow's rude and mocking, though somehow _sincere_ (doubt that. A lot.) question. "Nevermind," she scowled, her glare drifting a little at Ulquiorra who simply stared back.

_You do not scare me the slightest, girl_.

Was what seemed to radiate from his startling green eyes. She sighed again, not really expecting the pokerfaced-rock to apologize, because that would be the same equivalent as Ichigo smiling and Grimmjow crying.

"Where's the lady's room?" Rukia opted, massaging her temples.

Grimmjow tripped on the rug at the sudden question. "What?"

"Where. Is. The. Lady's. Room." She glared at them, emphasizing each word.

"The what?"

"The restroom, Grimmjow, the _restroom_." Ulquiorra translated for him, resisting the urge to throw a vacant magazine up at his cousin. Were they _really_ related? Seriously? Are you _kidding_ him?

"I know, dammit," Grimmjow growled. "I was just startled at her fucking question." He made a face, pointing at the door to their left with his chin. "S'right there."

"Thanks," Rukia murmured, walking to the room and closing the door before a scream erupted at her throat.

The two heads snapped up.

"What's it now?" Grimmjow growled, making irritated noises about people interrupting his supposed Saturday. Seriously, _why the _fuck_ now?_ Why not yesterday, when he was up and snarling? A sudden thought crossed his mind and he paused. "Holy shit, is Nnoitra in there?!" he turned to the door, a shocked look on his face.

For the umpteenth time since they knew each other, Ulquiorra sighed, annoyed by the azure-eyed boy's random outbursts. He stood up on his feet and approached the bathroom door, choosing to end this nonsense. His hands twisted the doorknob open, and his eyes fell to Rukia, giving the impression that he was glaring at her for all things bad and filthy.

"What is it, gir-" his eyes trailed off, courtesy of the remote sitting at the edge of the toilet. He looked at Rukia again, who merely looked back at him with shaken eyes.

SPLOOSH!

The girl stayed silent and Ulquiorra said nothing.

Yes, yes, _of course_- just what the household needed, a crap-ridden remote control. By the way, who the _hell_ would do that? Seriously? Who in the freaking world, was that nauseating? Then again, it's the freaking world we're talking about, so of course there's a lot of trash. Trash-people. _Garbage. Shit._

_Lord give me strength. _

Not that he really believed; it was just an expression.

A second later, Grimmjow appeared, standing tall beside them with a disgusted look on his face.

"Did you pee on it?"

_Dear God_.

"No, I did not _pee_ on it!!" Rukia snapped from her shaken look and growled angrily, resisting the urge to slap the boy across his head. She was a guest, after all.

Grimmjow paused, his face contorting. "Well, there ain't no way in hell I'm getting that." he muttered, walking away to the kitchen to get the broom and replace the T.P'd remote control.

Ulquiorra grunted, turning around and leaving the bathroom, hands in his pockets. Rukia paused, hesitating to walk away.

"Should… should I flush it?"

"No." the green-eyed boy said directly, reaching the couch and sitting on it as if this kind-of-stuff happened everyday. His hand fingered a magazine as an afterthought to distract himself.

"O…kay." Rukia murmured, taking one last look at the sickening view before she sat herself near the far end side of the sofa.

Grimmjow came back, a frown on his face as he sat down on the couch's arm-rest. "This better be fucking long enough," he growled lowly, proceeding to poke the dull end of the broom against the 'on' button.

The TV blinked open, a picture appeared, and moans sounded at the speakers.

Grimmjow dropped the broom and Ulquiorra kept his gaze at the magazine, his pale ears twitching at the sound. Rukia gaped, amethyst eyes wide.

"Fuck."

Which was exactly what was happening at the screen.

Because this-kind-of-stuff almost happened everyday, and they were pretty much used to it. And a dog was also used to _not crapping everywhere_ and women were also used to _not shutting the fuck up_ and this 'family' was _always doing things like this_. Yeah, right.

Grimmjow shoved Rukia aside and the girl yelped with a small "Aah!" his hand quickly patted the carpet, searching for the broom and instantly pushed a button to a different channel.

"Smooth." Ulquiorra muttered. Grimmjow growled.

"Shut up. Like you helped with your goddamn angsting."

"… is it over?" Rukia's voice was resounded quietly, her hands covering her even larger violet eyes.

"Yeah," Grimmjow answered, rubbing the back of his neck, unknowing of what else to say. "Fucking Nnoitra."

"Umh, okay…" the girl removed her hands from her eyes, slightly glancing at each boy to check up on their facial expressions. Sickened and indifferent. She cleared her throat, gaining their attention. "Err, soo…"

"So shouldn't you be leaving?" Grimmjow turned back towards the TV. "Veggie-head's not here, in case you didn't get that the first time."

Rukia scowled as she crossed her arms, her uneasy mood changing drastically. "You don't want me here?"

"No, not really." Ulquiorra answered, still keeping his gaze directed at the magazine. Worse Crimes Throughout Karakura: 12th, Bank robbery at downtown Rukongai Street, two guards killed, about a shitload of victims. Hm.

She sniffed, then scoffed. "Well, fine," she stood up, a defiant look on her face before she quickly sat right back down, the bold guise turning into a guilty one as a reminder ran through her head.

"That fucktard Nnoitra won't pop out at the door when you leave, so don't worry 'bout it." Grimmjow said, as if that was really considered as comforting to her.

Rukia's face scrunched. "That's not it."

"Then what?" the azure-eyed boy's attention flickered to her for a moment, before returning blankly to the screen.

"Err…" She looked sideways.

"What the hell is wrong with you? Spit it out, your whinin's fucking blockin'-out the sound."

"It's Ichigo," she admitted finally, scowling at Grimmjow's back, defeated. "I didn't _really_ come out here to see Nel, if I did, I wouldn't have come here to your T.P'd remote controls and porn channels." She looked at the two. "No offense though."

"Oh my fuckin'-" Grimmjow groaned at her. "Not _this _shit again."

"What?" Rukia raised a brow. Did they know that she was going to say this at the very start?

"I missed CSI."

She growled and slapped the azure-eyed boy's shoulder, who in return shoved her once more.

"You don't _slap_ me." He snarled, sloping off the couch's arm-rest and beside her.

"Apparently," Rukia scoffed, rolling her eyes. "But I'm being serious here."

"About what?" he turned to her once again.

Rukia sighed tiredly. "_Grimmjow_."

"You don't fucking say?" Grimmjow grinned dryly. "What's wrong with Strawberry this time?"

She hesitated, looking at him with startled eyes. "I didn't do anything!" guilt clenched her heart and _that was exactly it_. She didn't do anything.

"I didn't say you did!" Grimmjow growled at her. "Jeez." That really helped, Grimmjow. Not.

Rukia huffed, sighing and rubbing the sweat off her forehead. "No, it's nothing." She said. "But you're his friend-"

"Friend? Ichigo?" Grimmjow looked at her disbelievingly, cutting her off. "When the fuck was I labeled his _friend_?" Grimmjow frowned. Oh, so now him and Carrot-top were _friends_? Well, obviously nobody in his shoes- screw that, _socks_, would be happy with the fuckin' acknowledgment. Who'd be sissy enough to be 'friends' with anybody? Friends were for girls. In the man world- well, in _his_ man world, there was only 'hanging out with other people' and 'knowing other people'. How the hell did he become friends with the orange-juice anyway?

"At the rooftop- that one time, you know…" she said frustratingly, trying to recall back the memory of when they first met.

"The rooftop-" he suddenly scowled at her. "Just coz you fucking _said_ it doesn't mean it's true," he scoffed. "And what the hell have I done that said that we were friends in the first place?"

Rukia glared at him. "You know- that one time."

"Yes, _oh my God_ that-one-time!" He said, his voice dripping with sarcasm and a mocking look of surprise adorning his face. "We had SO much fun, didn't we? OhmyGod I cannot _believe _I forgot about that-one-time! Little fuckers!!"

"I get it," she gritted her teeth in annoyance. Ulquiorra snorted.

Well, that version of Grimmjow was unsurprisingly disturbing.

"But you're his friend… sort of."

Grimmjow laughed at this. "Fuck yeah, '_sort of'_." He grinned bitterly, because there was nothing to grin happily about when you're Saturday was interrupted by a lost remote, the porn channel, and some girl in your school trying to convince you that you were somebody else's friend when you _really_ weren't- or didn't want to be a 'friend' for that matter.

"Acquaintance?" Rukia raised a brow to him, a tinge of hope hidden in her voice.

"You wish." Grimmjow grunted back.

"Buddy?"

"No."

"Pal?"

"No."

"Companion?"

"Shut up."

"You're at least _companions_. You're in the same _class_, for Pete's sake."

"I said _shut up_."

"Associates?"

Grimmjow abruptly turned to her, snarling at the girl with feral blue eyes. "I'm gonna be his friend if you can prove three little shitty facts about it. Now shut the _fuck_ up-" He gave a low growl. "Because your voice is blocking out the sound."

Rukia stared back, a retort ready to be thrown out of her mouth when it suddenly died at her throat, a little intimidated by his gaze. The little gaze that almost said '_I'm gonna kill you if you don't shut your mouth at the next 5 seconds_' and the little gaze that reminded her that they weren't just _some_ guys she could always fool around with.

Grimmjow grunted. "Fuck, now I missed it." He seethed at the screen. Oh hell yeah, life _couldn't_ get any more tedious than this. He turned to Rukia, who gave him a startled stare. "You're quiet _now_, aren't you?"

The girl snapped back from reality at his accusing look, wiping off the nervous sweat that dripped small down her forehead. She gave the azure-eyed-boy a glare. "Shut up, I was thinking."

"What the hell is there to think about? The world isn't flat, gravity's here, and the fuckin' sun is actually a star. Thereyougo." He said back.

"Not that," she scowled, leaving out the word 'idiot' purposely. "I was thinking about the, quote "I'm gonna be his friend if you can prove three little shitty facts about it." Unquote."

Grimmjow's face bent. And Ulquiorra made a little noise, covering possible amusement.

"Yeah, soo…" Rukia began, a wicked smile twitching at her lips. "First fact: …" she paused, staring upwards to recall her memory. "Uhm, there was the one time where you shook hands."

Grimmjow snarled at her. "You _forced_ us."

"So? It still counts. And there was that one time where you joined in with him in football."

"What?!" He snarled at the girl again. "It's fucking _football_, who the hell refuses to play the sport? Plus you threw your ass over there, y'know. And that freakin' tall guy."

She scowled. "Fine, it doesn't count. But there was the time when you helped him beat those seniors."

"Free bashing. Again, who the _hell_ refuses those?" he replied with an obvious look.

"Tch," Rukia frowned. "The time where you two ditched first period together." She reminded him.

Grimmjow paused, his mouth opening to come up with a retort but died in the spotlight. He growled angrily, crossing his arms together. "Fuck. Doesn't matter, anyway. Still one more left."

The girl resisted the smirk crawling out of her lips, as right on cue, her brain rapidly regained pointless of memories stuck beside her mind. Screw spinach and elephants, arrogance was _on a roll_. "And that one time where you held him back."

"When the hell did I 'hold him back'?!" A sudden outraged look formed over Grimmjow's face as he stared at her disbelievingly.

"Don't deny it, _Grimmy_, you remember the time when you first met Renji?" she said.

"Who?" Grimmjow narrowed his eyes.

Rukia scowled. "The red-haired guy."

"Baboon-boy?" his brow arched a little.

"Um. Yes." Rukia dismissed the nickname, and the girl couldn't help but smirk now. "But nevertheless, let's see…" She paused, counting her thin fingers and looking thoughtful. "That's one- oh, two. No, _three_."

His mouth opened, then Grimmjow's face contorted into a twisted look. "You are gonna die today, Kuchiki!!" He shouted, jumping up to wring the girl's neck ruthlessly. Fuck her; he _didn't_ want to help _comfort_ that Fruitcup!! What was that punk, a freaking _baby!? _No way in hell was he gonna stoop that low, and this girl thought that she could just come up here and… and bet with him then fuckin' win!? Hell no!

Rukia's eyes widened and she scowled, slapping Grimmjow's hands deliberately. "It's your fault for making that statement!"

"Fuck the statement, I'm gonna _kill_ you!" He growled, but stopped dead when the knob to the front door twisted open.

Holy shit.

OhmyGod, please don't be _her_.

No, not HER.

_Her_.

Halibel.

That scary _bitch_.

A slam was heard but the front door didn't open, instead, the back door did. Grimmjow flinched, then growled as the intruder stepped inside in just a matter of seconds. Speedy bastard.

"Oh, there's an outsider here." A voice drawled from the kitchen. Rukia stared up, her eyes meeting the back of a black-haired man. "And it's a girl," the man added from behind, tone a little amused.

Rukia blinked. How did he…? "Um, hello."

The man turned, and greeted her with a sluggish wave.

Grimmjow snorted, slapping Rukia's shoulder as 'revenge' before directing his attention to the dark-haired man. "If you're just gonna come and fucking waltz in here, you gotta say something first. What the hell is "Oh, there's an outsider here"?! I'll tell you what it is, _it_ is freakin' creepy, man."

He shrugged in return, not really caring. "Okay."

"Yeah. Coz... coz, y'know, that is pretty freaky." Grimmjow trailed off. "So you gotta stop."

"Fine." He replied.

"Am I making myself clear?" Grimmjow said again, trying to sound threatening. Though that was kinda hard when the person you were talking to was kinda like- whatever, dude.

"Crystal." The man answered back slowly.

"Okay, then." The azure-eyed boy huffed, nodding his head in awkward approval.

The man nodded back gradually, and all was quiet until a small girl came trailing behind the door, muttering something about a "lazy asshole," before shoving a black binder to the man's chest.

"Stop forgetting the freaking binder!! It's important, y'know!!" she shouted at him angrily.

The man frowned. "I was going to go back and get it."

"Yeah, right." The little girl scoffed. "It was right beside that damned painting you got!! You didn't even _know_ it was there!!"

"Whatever." The man replied casually. "Aren't you supposed to go home right now?"

"Go home!?" The brat exploded in metaphorical terms, not _literally_… "Your life depends- shit; MY LIFE depends on tha-"

The doorknob twisted fully and the front door opened, revealing another strange… stranger and cutting the little girl off

Rukia blinked and a dark-skinned woman with blonde hair came stepping inside the living room. The little girl stopped, gazing at the female with wide eyes before scowling eventually.

"Halibel." The man greeted with a blank look.

Grimmjow straightened up at the name, looking sullen as he kind of slanted down the sofa and crawled out of the room. He stood back up as soon as he hit a different colored rug, and walked the hell out of sight. Rukia's eyes followed him before he disappeared, staring wide-eyed.

_No, don't leave me here!! Grimmjow, you bastard!_ –sniff- _Ichigo, look what you made me do… assholes._

"He forgot the binder," The little girl said suddenly, ratting out the man with an accusing point of her index finger.

The woman shook her head. "Lilinette, you've said enough," Her gaze changed to the man. "And Stark, Aizen-sama is very strict about that, take heed that it may not happen again."

"Whatever." The man called Stark dismissed it with a wave, and sat himself leisurely between Ulquiorra and Rukia.

Halibel sighed inaudibly, walking across the room to the kitchen.

Rukia didn't really know what to say in this situation. She stared at the green-eyed rock through the corner of her eyes, who looked like the magazine he was reading was more important than her anxiety.

Well, this was more than awkward…

And like it _couldn't_ get any worse, the front door swung open once again and in came a pink-haired individual with white glasses.

"Great news," he… she? He, Rukia confirmed, announced all of a sudden with a small smirk.

The occupants didn't bother to acknowledge the poor fellow, so it seems. But the poor fellow looked like he couldn't care less, and continued on as if he were talking to himself.

"They thought that they could hide the wire in a dead body, huh?" he shook his head and pushed his glasses up, the smirk growing a little as he prided himself on his work. His tone of voice sounded like he really wanted to pat himself on the back. "Such a shame. I though that the police would offer more challenge."

Another person came in, bumping into the latter pink individual.

"Quit talkin' bullshit," he… she… he… she? She, no, _he- _err, she! Yes, she. No, _he_. He. Yes. He said, snarling a little, though his teeth showed as though he was grinning. What was up with that? What was up with this whole 'family'? "Yer the one who went into the morgue and handled the small stuff, meanwhile I had to decapitate the friggin' guards so yer ass could come and go without getting whooped."

"You mustn't talk that way, Nnoitra." The pink-haired man said. "We shared our work equally."

"Yeah, yeah." He scoffed. "Say whatever you want, but I-"

"Hey, hey," Stark cut them off, looking forever nonchalant though a little bit irritated. "We have a guest. _Shut up_."

The pink-haired man looked around, eyeing the living room with observant eyes. "I don't see any- oh." He looked at Rukia, who bit her tongue. Something told her that this wasn't the time to say hello.

"Yeah, 'oh'. How the hell couldn't you see her?" The man called Nnoitra snorted. "So much for bein' a smartass."

"I couldn't see her because the sofa was hiding her small stature." He paused. "She's so short."

"Excuses, excuses." Nnoitra grinned, his tongue sticking out. "Ya sure you're supposed to be our-"

The pink-haired man scoffed, cutting off Nnoitra. "You didn't even _realize_ she was there, hypocrite."

"Speak for yerself, I knew before Stark pointed her out and _I don't pretty much care_ if I say anythin'."

"Well," the pink-haired man paused, a smile forming on his lips. Rukia blinked slowly, panic rising in her chest at the pause. Well _what_? Should she be glad that he was smiling? "I could always _make her forget_."

What!?

"NO. No, definitely _no_." Stark repeated firmly, pointing at the pink-haired man several times as though it was the same equivalent of stabbing him. "We will not _make people forget their memories_ because you messed up your ass. No."

Rukia cringed, didn't they realize that she was sitting _right there_? They talked like they didn't give a fuck over people, like mention something about a person committing suicide and jumping over a bridge, and they'd say: "No, he should've shot himself or something, coz you can still survive if you jump off a bridge."

"Why not?" the pink-haired man mock-frowned.

"Aizen-sama did not order us to do so," Halibel spoke up from the kitchen.

"Yeah, and fact number one: You'd be scaring the _shit_ out of her, and two: it's too messy. Honestly, how do you people go about everyday?"

"We're not lazy asses like you, Stark." Nnoitra pointed out with a slight grin. "And she already heard everything, so we might as well just do the damned thing."

No. Let's go with 'Stark', let's not be messy _please_, people. Rukia gulped, swallowing dread and opening up her mouth. It was either flee or be 'memory-wiped' and she did _not_ want to be 'memory-wiped'.

"Is it this late?" Rukia said, her face letting out a forced but somewhat believable smile, and her eyes scanned the room airily, looking for a clock. "I-I should really be going now…" her voice hitched and kind of evaporated when all the faces turned to her.

"It's just 5 in the afternoon," The pink-haired man said to her. "No need to rush, it's not like we're going to kill you, am I right?" he smiled gently, though that could just be her brain playing tricks on her.

"Um, err." Rukia couldn't really say anything to that other than staying silent or screaming for help.

"Oh, yeah, helpful much?" Stark grunted at the glasses-wearing-individual, he motioned for Rukia to sit back down. "Relax, girl."

"Yes, the process will just take a quick second." The pink-haired man said again, still smiling.

"Be quiet Szayel." Halibel says.

Nnoitra suddenly sits at the arm-rest situated at Rukia's right, grinning and showing his teeth at her. The girl looked startled, edging closer to her left until she bumped unto Stark who said to "Stop playing around, Nnoitra"

Oh shit, she was trapped. Stuck. Trapped. Shit.

"Here Szayel," the long-haired man with his tongue sticking out says with a grin. "I'll hold her and-"

Rukia's violet eyes widened for a split second as she stammered out an excuse. "A… I- uh," Smooth, Rukia. The girl stands up with a strained expression, about to just Screw All Of This and run for the door until a boy with blue-hair suddenly pops up and blocks

the entryway.

Rukia gasped, about to have a teenage-heart attack.

"I'm fuckin' hungry." The blue-haired boy announces, and flinches a little at the sight of Halibel gazing up at him.

Rukia stared up at him, all wide-eyed and sweaty before snapping out of her horror-filled-vision. Oh good, it was just Grimmjow. The bastard's here. Thanks for ditching me, bastard. The girl grumbled in her mind, calming down a little now that she at least knew _somebody_. Ulquiorra was an exception, _nobody_ got to know that green-eyed rock. You just see him.

Szayel smiled. "Good job, Grimmjow."

The azure-eyed lad looked at him like he was crazy and Stark yawned.

"Yep, I'm hungry too. Chinese or Italian, everybody?" The dark-haired man stood up, grumbling. "_Like I give a damn_, Italian it is."

"Fuck. Italian food… isn't that like, Olive Garden?" Grimmjow asked, though nobody answered him. His gaze fell to Rukia, raising a brow and giving her a 'what the hell happened to you?' look.

The girl was wide-eyed and panicky, almost breaking out into hyperventilation in a very graceful way, if that was possible. It was a _miracle_ that a sane girl like her even made it like, 3 feet away from the door before the insane 'family' ganged up and… she didn't know, eat her, probably. She wasn't Italian, but then again, she wasn't sure.

I'm all right Grimmjow, _thank you for ditching me_. I'm very, seriously, _fine_.

"You gonna just stay there or sumthing?" he muttered to her.

"Are you going to do it?" she asked back, suddenly.

"Do what?"

"You know," Rukia gave him a leveled look, something that was miraculous to do after just being harassed by a bunch of weirdoes.

Grimmjow stared at her, wondering what the hell did 'you know' meant, then growled. "Yeah, yeah," he waved, walking after the girl "Just lemme eat first."

XxXxXxX

Extra

XxXxXxX

Rukia paused, chewing her food slowly. This was like the mother of all bad ideas, sitting here and having dinner with these weirdoes.

It was like they were keeping here her until they decided what to do with her, i.e.: kill her or let her join the pack, because, you know, she… overheard things. And Rukia wondered that if she'd promised not to tell anyone about it and even swear on her own grave that she wouldn't tell, would that make all these better and make her go? Or what if she mentioned it when she wasn't supposed to mention it, and _it'd_ get worse? Then surely, they'll cut the freaky act and go cold-killer mode.

Or was this how they _really_ are?

God forbid that. She suddenly felt sorry for their co-workers.

Rukia chewed and chewed, then swallowed silently, not opening her mouth and not saying anything.

Should she?

For a really crazy 'family', they were awfully silent on the table.

"Um, pass the risotto please," the girl says before she can bite her tongue.

Holy shit! No, stomach, what've you done!?

Before the girl could silently panic, the risotto was passed unto her. Rukia took some hesitantly.

Poisoned?

…

She placed it back on her side and took a small bite.

Nah, this was takeout.

"Pass the juice." Somebody says.

Rukia chews and chews, too caught up in her own thoughts.

"Pass the freakin' juice _now_." There was a _thump_ noise as somebody banged on the table.

The dinner table clanks as forks hit against plates.

"Bastards."

* * *

**Holy crap, I am _so _sorry for not updating in a long time**. But then, yeah, writer's block and a lot of things happened… yeah.

**Ulquiorra is so freakin' hard to write about**. People expect him to be silent all the time, but in the manga, he makes a speech about how he can't feel emotions. I mean, what the hell? That is completely unnecessary, and yet- yeah. Anyways, everybody still loves him –happy face-

**The rest of the Espada gang, I'm sorry if I'm not writing them properly**? It's really hard because well, they barely said anything in the manga and I'm not really sure how to bring them out. The one that should cause you some -twitch-this-is-crap- are Stark and Halibel, I think.

So… well, yeah.

Hopefully, you'll know the last person in the extra. xDD I mean, how can you _not_? Well maybe you just don't, so yeah, whatever.

Anyways, I'm sorry this is like, too long. **And** **somebody suggested that if Ulquiorra and Grimmjow were cousins and stuff, will the whole Espada gang come along**?

**And I was like, "Hell yeah!"**

**So thank you, if you're reading this!** I don't know who you are and I've actually tried looking, but alas, it gives me a headache. But thanks a lot. Seriously.

Well, Gin and Aizen are- HAH! I almost fell for it. xDD I'm not gonna tell you C:

**Looks like Grimmjow's kinda scared of Halibel!! Nah. Not really.** You wish. xDD Grimmy's not scared, it's just like the type of relationship between a really kick-ass mother and her kid. Yeah. Well, no, Halibel's not really a 'mom' she's just the mother-figure in the 'family'. Note the air-quotes, since they're not really related. Well, Grimmjow and Ulquiorra _are_ related in THIS story, not _really_ in the Bleach storyline, but yeah. They're all there in one big house because they _have to be_. No, seriously, they _have to_. It's part of the story later on. So yeah, it's best to not figure out the 'family' until further on.

**But this is the deal**:

Halibel and Stark are like the main provider. They're not _couples_, mind you. Just the main providers.

Szayel and Nnoitra (for some reason I pronounce Nnoitra as Noitora) are roomates.

Grimm and Ulquiorra are cousins.

**That is the people in the household, and the grown-ups are all related because they have the same job and they're on the same team. Get it?** Like, they _have_ to be there. However, Grimm and Ulquiorra are there because of later plans when they grow up. In the story, I'm not actually gonna write about it- unless you want to, though. Yeah, this is pretty long.

**T****he whole family thing, btw, is based on rank**. I'm not really sure whose top Dog, but I think you get the picture. xDD Well, I hope _it is_ the right picture.

I'd be really angry if Grimmjow dies in Bleach. Does he? Coz I'd flip out man, y'know, freakin' flip out…

**So review and alert please!!** I hope some stuff in here makes you laugh.


	15. Everybody hated Mondays

So here we go again,  
Back to **TOMFOOLERY**, school, and all that pain,  
But you can better fucking believe,  
That the drama still won't leave,  
Because there's no solace, no relief,  
You can fucking pray to that, hallelujah, a-mein.

XxXxXxX

Augh. Fuck. Monday. Just… _fuck_.

How come that damned day always come so freaking soon? Doesn't it get the point that people don't like it?

And _ohhhh…_ high-school. Fuck. Deep inside, everybody hated high-school. Screw the good memories; high-school fucks you all over.

Ichigo washed a hand over his face, the faucet running with warm water. Because seriously, who would be stupid enough to use cold water? It's like freaking _cold_, and it won't hesitate to slap you awake, my friend.

… dumbass.

But seriously, why couldn't Sunday just slow down a bit? He needed it to _slow down a bit_. He needed a break. Fucking Monday won't help; it'd just make things worse.

Both of his hands gripped the porcelain sink, and he looked at his reflection on the mirror.

He scowled at it.

You _moron_. You just _had_ to be a pansy ass. A sissy. What would Jackass say, _Ichigo_? Stop the confessions, shut the freaking window. Pull yourself together. Next time you feel like blabbing your mouth, I am going to kill you. Did you get that, Ichigo? I will fucking _murder_ you in your sleep.

He sighed at the threat, but managed to flick the middle finger at his reflection. Hey, just because this day was going to be sucky, didn't mean that he couldn't have a little sense of humor.

Oh God. He was resorting to _this_ type of comfort? Fuck. That is just fucking sad.

His hand grabbed the towel on the towel rack and he exited the bathroom before he freaking made himself cry there. He jogged down the stairs, and as usual, Yuzu was the first to greet him. Karin was already eating at the table, and Pops was still nowhere to be found.

It wasn't like their father left them everyday at home, you know. And it wasn't like he didn't care for his kids, or that he wanted to get away from them. It wasn't anything like that, morons. He left the house because that was where his wife died, and he was the doctor who failed to save her life. He just wanted to be used to it, at the meantime.

But that's pretty hard, y'know. Getting used to it. Forgetting was easier. And plus, you gotta respect a man who made money _while_ he tried forgetting about all the bad things in life.

Oh my God… Stop it, Ichigo. Just stop at the fuckin' ironic jokes. It's not even _funny_. You're just like, making everything sadder… and pathetic-ish. Bringing all the sad memories, y'know? Stop.

He couldn't afford to be miserable right now. He just didn't want it on a fucking Monday. Nobody with the right mind did.

The teenager pulled a seat and sat on it backwards; his hand made a grab for the toast but got swiped by a spatula.

"What the hell?" he scowled, turning to Karin who mirrored his expression.

"Don't look at me," she muttered, picking up her chopstick and digging unto the rice bowl.

Well of course, Karin _wouldn't_ have a spatula. She _didn't_ have one, either. The orange-haired boy turned, giving his other younger sister a weird look.

Yuzu just sighed, a little worriedly. "Ichi-nii, you have to eat a proper breakfast. Not just toast!"

"I'm late for school," he muttered back as an excuse. Karin scoffed at him.

"You cut school,"

"You do?!" Yuzu gave him an incredulous look, a frown etching its way to the little girl's lips.

"No," he told them firmly, scowling.

"Please, Ichi-nii, I know all your propagandas." The black-haired girl looked at him, smirking and swallowing her rice.

"Propagandas, huh? Where'd you learn that word?" he asked, standing up and snatching the toast anyway. "You're 9, for Christ's sake. You're a hundred years too early on knowing my _propagandas_." He smirked back.

"Where're you going?" Yuzu raised a brow.

"School,"

"He means that coffee shop that just opened two blocks over." Karin interfered. Yuzu turned to her.

Ichigo scowled. "She means the cafeteria."

XxXxXxX

The door opened and a little bell rung, signaling that a customer had entered.

A young girl, maybe about 3, smiled broadly, grinning at the arriving customer.

Ichigo scoffed inwardly, ignoring the little girl who tried to talk to him about the special treat of the day. Okay, so maybe he _was_ going to the coffee shop two blocks over, but who the hell cared? It's their grand opening and that kind of thing only happened once, and good God, it didn't take a genius to figure out that this kind of place would close down in just two months.

There was freaking Starbucks just on the opposite street and Panera Bread right at the corner. Who would go to this fucking little shop, called 'Arngaline' when there were brand name stores right at the street? Nobody, that's who. Even if some shit-heads got married and had a baby, and then named that kid 'Nobody', he'd bet that 'Nobody'd' rather _not_ waste his money and go to Starbucks/Panera Bread instead.

And that was just fucking sad.

So to prevent sadness, because nobody liked sadness, yes, even 'Nobody', he decided to come here to show his patronage and declare that somebody in this cruel world did indeed care about a little shop called 'Arngaline', even when there was freaking Starbacks and Panera Bread somewhere right around the corner.

And clearly, it was _more important_ than school. He went there _everyday_. Give him a freaking break. Plus, not only that, he was also doing a good deed. You could even think of it as charity for a coffee shop that had no luck.

His brown eyes looked over the place, staring at the wallpaper, which were bricks. Yes, the real ones. You know, the rectangular ones? Despite this horrid decision, the reddish maroon color kinda warmed up the place. And the booths had a striped red and white cover, to boot. The floors were dirt- nah, just kidding. They were kind of the cheap, blue Persian rugs that you could buy at a flea market. Bricks, stripes, and blue. Wow.

"What do you want, kid?" A gruff voice called and he turned around.

"I want a clean slate, but you can't give me that, can you?" he muttered under his breath. He looked back at the old lady. "What do you have?"

"This is a coffee shop. _Guess_." The gray-haired woman huffed.

"Damn, if you're gonna be mean, I'm just gonna fuckin' head over to Starbucks then." He said clearly, eyeing the woman's expression.

The lady stared at him indifferently. "Go ahead."

"Fine." Ichigo huffed, turning on his heel only to be stopped by a shrill cry.

"No! GRANDMA!" the little girl at the front whined.

"What?"

"It's our first customer!"

He was the first customer? Ichigo sniffed at the air, fingering the change inside his pocket. How come he wasn't surprised that he was the first customer? Oh, that's right. This place sucked. And the service- don't even get him started at that.

"Fine," the old lady huffed, glancing at the teenager. "You. Come here. Since it's our first day open, your first cup will be on the house."

"Joy." He rolled his eyes, passing the little girl over at the door and sitting at the first booth.

"What's up with you?" the woman grumbled, coming around from the counter. "Shouldn't you be in school?"

"Shouldn't you be in the retirement home?" he grumbled back. The woman clicked her tongue.

"Get out."

"I want my coffee first." Ichigo looked at her.

She huffed, bringing a small, white towel and dropping it at a random table. "What's your problem?" she asked, wiping the white, ceramic surface.

"None of your business," the teen answered, a little defensively and the old woman couldn't help but give a knowing smirk.

God, the elderly. Just because they lived longer, they thought they knew _everything_. They couldn't even fucking work out a computer.

"Girl trouble, huh?"

"No." the boy answered timely, leaning back. "The opposite."

"You're gay?"

"No. I'm not happy. Or homosexual." Ichigo said, draping a hand over at the chair.

"Oh." The woman muttered, and then eyed him again. "So what's wrong with you?"

"I don't really want to share it out on the public," he crinkled his eyes at her.

"Lemme guess," the woman paused wiping the table. "You messed up. Bad. That's why you're cutting school."

"You can say that," he shrugged. "Only one of 'em fucking poked their nose on it."

"What? They tattle-tailed on you?"

"Snitch. It's called snitching." Ichigo pointed out with his index finger. "But no. The bitch made me keel over and own up."

"What?" the woman gave him a weird stare.

"She made me crumple down and _confess_."

"Oh…." The old woman paused, raising a brow. "Really now?"

"Yes. It was very… pansy."

"Pansy?"

"Sissy-like," Ichigo explained.

"Hmm," the old lady turned back to her swiping the tables. "So who made it 'pansy'?"

"Me."

"You?" she didn't move from her spot, or turn around to face him, but her tone was questioning. "How?" Teenagers these days. They do the most complicated things on the simplest matters.

"I actually _keeled over _and _owned up_." he made a face. "I fucking fell for it."

"We like to replace the 'f' word with 'fark' in here. Or fork. Whichever you like, but you still have to do it."

"Oh. Okay. Fine." Ichigo paused. "I wish that she would just farking fork herself and leave me the butter biscuits alone."

"Butter biscuits. That's nice, we ought to make some of that." The old lady turned to him. "Very creative, though."

"Thanks." Ichigo muttered, looking outside at the window and at all the happy students who were talking and walking over to school. They could also farking fork themselves and stay the butter biscuits away from him. Or the window, whichever was fastest enough.

"So what did you say to her?" the old lady was curious. Ichigo glanced at her.

"I don't wanna talk about it." He muttered again. "It's private. Hey, where's my coffee?"

"You don't look the type, so here's a steaming cup of creamy, chocolate milk. One of Arngaline's very best." The grown woman smiled at him, her voice dropping with mocking sweetness. Very much like _somebody_.

He eyed the liquid brown substance. "Thanks."

"Yeah." The woman said back.

"Who's Arngaline?" Ichigo suddenly asked, pouring sugar inside the paper cup.

"The name of the store."

"No pickles. I know that." He rolled his eyes. "I meant, is s/he a real person or something?"

The woman just smiled at him. "You don't need to know that. And I already put sugar into that."

"I like my drinks sweet." Ichigo muttered, his eyes tracing back at the swirling contents of the chocolate milk.

"Hmmm. Whatever suits you," the woman replied, now walking back behind the counter and staring up ahead at the front of the store. "Looks like nobody's gonna come here soon," she mumbled to herself, clicking her tongue again. She looked back at Ichigo. "Okay, kid. I got time. Tell me the high-school blues crap."

The brown-eyed boy smiled wryly, throwing the packet of sugar somewhere along the table. His hands picked up the spoon and he mixed the chocolate milk together, then brought it to his lips. He looked at the lady, and after a long while of narration, he put the cup back down and smirked.

"Remember the bitch?"

"Yeah."

He pointed at the grown woman with the plastic spoon. "You're like an older version."

"Yeah, well, you got milk mustache."

XxXxXxX

Oh God.

Rukia buried her face on her hands, muffling a string of violent curses. Grimmjow would've been proud… or angry that she had overthrown him.

But… _oh God_.

She shook her head, short black tresses swaying a little. She just didn't like Mondays. Or rather, _this_ particular Monday. How come whenever bad stuff happened in her life, it was always Mondays? It's like the freaking day was cursed.

The girl groaned, drawing a number of her classmate's attention spans.

Because they all thought that happy little Kuchiki Rukia was the perfect model student, never having a bad hair day, a bad day- a bad _anything_, didn't they? Her world was always happy, it _needed _to be. That was just how things were. A complete set with how when there was night, there was day. When you sharpen a pencil, it was pointy. And when you stabbed yourself with it- it'd hurt a lot, no matter _who _you are. It'd hurt.

And that was how her world was. They thought. Or had to be. Full of gumdrops and sugarplums and unicorns jumping at sunset while rainbows shot out of their freaking-

"Miss Kuchiki, are you alright?" the teacher said, raising a brow at her star pupil.

Rukia sniffed inwardly, feigning a smile. "Yes, I'm quite alright. I'm sorry for troubling you."

The grown woman who was at the blackboard gave her a weird look. "Err… don't mention it."

The girl nodded, trying to concentrate back to her work as the teacher continued the lesson. She thought that if she was distracted, it'd help her not think about-

She shut her eyes tightly.

My God… what a fool she'd have been.

What an ice cold _bitch_.

Prying into his past like that- like she was allowed to. Like she'd been given the _liberty_ to just go into his life one day and control it.

To smirk smugly and take care of him, saying that he was an idiot for smoking and acting like some sort of mother and telling him to quit already- when really-

- when at the _first place. _She didn't even know a single thing. She didn't need to do that. It was uncalled for.

And plus, what she felt bad for the most was that… meanwhile when _she_ was too preoccupied with herself playing hero and reporter and bugging the _hell_ out of him and asking him all these questions- _he didn't_.

He didn't ask her why she was fucking doing this- why she was so interested. Why of all people, she picked to bug _him_. And why she wouldn't leave him the hell alone.

He didn't even ask one single thing about _her_ past. He didn't know that she was an orphan, that she liked high places and food, that she hated being formal and all that crap, that she didn't know _why_ she got adopted. That she didn't know her real family.

All he knew was that she was short, her name was Kuchiki Rukia and that she liked to draw bunny rabbits and bears and ducks and little birds.

But what did _she_ know about him?

She knew that he had two younger sisters; fraternal twins to be exact, that went by the name of Yuzu and Karin. She had even been to his house. She knew that his little sisters were aware that he was smoking, and she knew that Ichigo wasn't. She knew that they actually thought _she could help_.

That his name didn't mean 'strawberry', it actually meant 'one who protects' and that he freaking went by the damn name. He liked to protect people- in fact; he had a serious problem about it. That his dad was a doctor, and was out on weekends. That he didn't like to hang around with his friends anymore. That he was addicted to smoking and couldn't stop, but was actually very smart.

And that he loved his mom very much, and one rainy day, on June 17, when he was nine, he had accidentally killed her. Or as he said it, 'brought her to her death'.

She knew all that.

But he, meanwhile, didn't even know that they almost shared the same scenario within their past. He didn't know that… and she- _she did_. And she was keeping it from him and he wasn't asking- he wasn't even fucking _curious_.

It wasn't fair to him, she realized that. She also realized that she should've never come across him in the first place, when in the end; it only reminded her of unspeakable memories. He should've never said that to her, because they were strangers. And maybe, he even deserved bett-

The bell suddenly rang and the students immediately bolted out of their seats, startling Rukia and reminding her that atop of all the bad things that were going on, and her feeling _tremendously_ guilty already, she was also still stuck in a pit-hole.

The girl closed her eyes again, hissing angrily.

Shit… _lunch._

He was going to be there.

XxXxXxX

"Princess better fuckin' appreciate this." Grimmjow growled angrily as he walked up the staircases and slammed the metal door open, surprising Nel and Rukia.

Well, actually, he _wanted _to stomp up the staircases and slam the metal door open and surprise the two girls- or maybe kick it, whichever was more unexpected, but he didn't get to. Ulquiorra walked in front of him, preventing the enraged boy to let some anger out and kick the door's ass.

Stupid bastard. He always was a control-freak, even when he was a kid. Fucking busted his gut once when he didn't pay attention to what the emo-rock was saying.

Nel raised a brow, standing straight from the railing only to take a step backwards, wincing at the azure-eyed boy. "Grim!" she paused, her golden eyes suddenly crinkling at him. "That looks like it hurts," she touched the side of her face in paranoia. "Does it hurt? Are you okay? Is it uncomfortable?"

Grimmjow just looked at her, gritting his teeth and clenching his jaw and nursing a bruised cheek situated at the right side of his face. "I don't know Nel, what do you _think_?"

"Can I touch it?"

"Fuck no!" Grimmjow growled. "It fucking hurts like hell, okay?"

"What happened to you?" Rukia now spoke, her chest banging a little because of her heart. What- Ichigo wasn't here? Was he late or something?

"I got ambushed." Grimmjow grumbled simply.

"That explains the bruised cheek on your face, but _why?_" Rukia retorted with a scowl, quite annoyed about how boys didn't tell you _everything_ they needed to tell you.

But where the hell was Ichigo? Did he even come to school? She sighed inwardly, again can't help but stare down at her shoes. Major guiltiness was indulging her brain, reminding her of every bad thing she had ever done in life. And that was just… _nice_.

Was he really that mad at her- or irritated- that he would skip out on school?

"See, look here," the azure-eyed lad began, making some hand gestures to attract their attention. "I was just walking to school and taking the fucking subway train because everybody does that, and out of _fucking nowhere_, out of the goddamned blue, some couple of shitheads suddenly appeared and fucking tackled me with a baseball bat. I mean, who the hell would do something shitty like that? Apparently, four fucking weirdoes saying some weird shit about 'this is not your turf!' and crying out. Boohoo, the whiny pansies."

"And why did they do that to you?" Rukia raised a brow, suddenly very curious.

Ulquiorra suddenly huffed, sighing quietly and reminding everybody that he was actually there. "The fool signed up for a-"

"Shit. No, _don't_ _fucking tell her!_"

He gave his cousin a stare, green eyes glaring down at him intently. "You're afraid of this girl when you had the _guts_ to include me on this bullshit?"

That's right. Ulquiorra could _curse_, if he wanted to.

"I'm not fucking afraid of anybody," Grimmjow growled. "Get that straight and fucking remember it. I'm just sayin'… that girls kinda get shrilly over these kinds of things."

"What did you do?" Nel asked all of a sudden, giving them a curious look.

"Huh? Oh, we started a gang- fucking _shit_!" The azure-eyed boy cursed angrily, gritting his teeth.

"You _what_!?" Rukia's head snapped up to them, giving the two boys an angry stare.

"Wow… Grim, Ulqui, separated you two are fine, but together, you're kind of dumb… and reckless." Nel mumbled to herself, a thoughtful look on her face. Although you could bet that they heard it.

"Shut up, Veggie-head!" Grimmjow pointed an accusing finger at her direction. "This is all your fucking fault!"

"Her?! What did she do?! She didn't join you on signing up for a… a gang war!" Rukia retorted, now standing up. She paused at that sentence, suddenly massaging her temples. "Okay, so let me get this straight…" the girl sighed, eyeing the two. "You actually did it?"

"I take no part of this." Ulquiorra muttered, walking towards the exit.

Grimmjow snarled. "Asshole. Secretly inside, you know you were fucking _dying_ to squash those douche bags."

Ulquiorra didn't bother to respond, merely leaving a snort before he opened the door and walked down the stairs.

Nel raised a brow to them. "Where're you two going?"

"We're gonna find Princess and tell him about all this crap," Grimmjow muttered, trailing after the green-eyed lad. "Since _somebody_ practically fuckin' begged for us to assist the pansy ass."

"I do not _beg_," Rukia growled. "And is this you're way of 'helping'? A gang war?"

"What? You got some other idea? Oh, I know, why don't we just fucking knit a blanket and give it to him for comfort?" Grimmjow scoffed. "Don't get your panties in a bunch. We're just distracting him for a little while."

Rukia scowled at him. "What're you gonna do if things don't turn out the way you planned them?"

"Okay, first of all." Grimmjow pointed out, "We don't have a plan, and we don't need one either. Second, stop asking too many damn questions. They're pointless, that's what they are. And third, don't over think too many things, that's why you fought with Princess, right?" he grinned dryly. "So just sit there."

Nel just blinked, and Rukia huffed.

The green-haired girl smiled. "Wow, Grim, you're kind of nice."

"What?" he suddenly paused, giving her an incredulous stare. "I ain't nice."

"Yes, you are. Why did you help, if you weren't?"

He snarled at her, his tone persistent. "I don't help, Veggie-head. I _assist_. I _contribute_. I fucking _distract_, but not help."

"But you're _assisting_ Ichigo, right? Assist, contribute, they're all synonyms, and _distracting _is how you'll help Carrot-top." Nel said, still smiling and a little awestruck by this tiny miracle, Rukia, meanwhile, was laughing.

Grimmjow growled angrily. "I'm not nice, Veggie-head. I just don't have anything better to do- see if I fucking care when Princess drops dead and dies one of these days. I'd be laughing my ass off, that's what I'm gonna do."

"No, no," Nel shook her head. "In fact- _actually, _you've been helping him all these days from now, weren't you?" her tone was lighthearted, but accusing.

"Hell. No." Grimmjow gritted out. "Princess, once again, can go and screw himself and bring his fucking life with him."

"Yeah, you were helping him all these days from now!" she smiled brightly, reminiscing. "You're actually a pretty good guy."

"Fucking hell," the azure-eyed boy seethed, suddenly turning to Rukia to sidetrack the conversation. "You coming Kuchiki? You wanna face Princess pansy ass?"

Rukia looked up, startled at his question. She looked back down, staring at her white school shoes. "Umm. No, I'm fine."

"Whatever. You, Veggie-head?"

Nel paused, glancing over to Rukia. "No, I'll stay here," she grinned a little. Rukia tried to smile back at her, failing a bit as guilt suddenly washed over her mind.

"No, no, _you_ are coming with us, so I can fucking prove, that I ain't the least bit _nice._"

"Say whatever you want, Grim." Nel eyed him again. "But you can be a decent guy, if you wanted."

"No, no, _no._" He grabbed her arm. "I swear to God, one of these days, when Halibel fucking dies, I will bitch-slap you."

Rukia sighed as she watched Nel, her only companion who was _supposed_ to talk to her before she got dragged by a tall jackass, stagger and leave through the door, mouthing a "Sorry!" to her. But that wasn't what made her feel kind of bad inside- that she had been left out. Truthfully, she _wanted_ to face Ichigo, to apologize about his past, that she pried into private matters, and tell him about her own as well. But she couldn't do that, she didn't want anybody knowing. Or rather, she didn't want to be helped. She was always the one that lent a hand, not the one who needed it.

She needed to make it out on her own. She didn't want anybody to think that she was weak, just because she was short and thin and was a girl. She didn't want anybody to think that she was lonely, just because she didn't know who her real family was. She lived in a freaking mansion, drove around in a freaking limo, she couldn't be anymore greedy. And, she really didn't want to be helped. She didn't want to delve on further about _her_ past, afraid that it might make her depressed.

She just didn't want anybody to see her cry.

XxXxXxX

* * *

Yeah… **I still can't write Ulquiorra**! Damn.

**Review and alert**, please!


	16. Nonchanging

TOMFOOLERY

This time around here's a limerick  
About some sort of teenage-life crisis  
She's not sure if that rhymes  
If it does then that's sublime  
But there's still plenty more of kicks

-X-

Bright orange hair shone under the sunlight, blinding pedestrians and drivers everywhere, causing a little traffic jam that was pretty big since it was caused by just one person's bright hair.

Ichigo scowled as usual, not caring that a grandma on her little scooter almost got ran over by a car just behind him because he chose to walk slowly, unlike the average pace of normal homosapians on a traffic crossing.

He shoved his hands inside his pocket, glancing at the humongous digital clock that was sufficiently splayed at the middle of downtown Karakura.

It was customized for all the forgetful people who may have forgotten their watches to see, and also for the assholes who needed to get one already.

And on a completely different note, the digital clock even played commercials.

But that was another story. The digital clock read 12:45. Only about 2 more hours 'till school ended and he could return home, since he couldn't really just breeze in without having his… …

Actually… on a second thought— he _could_. He normally went home earlier than Yuzu or Karin, since high school kids were appointed home at 2pm. And it's not like their _dad_ was there. He was busy on some doctor meeting that Ichigo didn't really care about until they went bankrupt.

Call it shallow or whatever, he liked to say that it was the bliss of teenage ignorance. Or he was just feeling a little jerky today.

An unwanted smirk crept up to his face, the feeling of satisfaction entering his body for some stupid reason.

_That's right, you motherfuckers. Even though I'm partly screwed up, I still know common sense— what the hell is Grimmjow—?! Augh!_

He could've sworn that his nose was punched so hard, it circled all the way around his face before swerving right back to its rightful position. A little crooked, but what the hell?

Nobody noticed. And if he hadn't been so prideful and boyish, he'd even say it suited him better.

But for the sake of broken prides and noses, he cursed bloody hell and the freaking grandma who thought that it was funny to throw her little purple purse at his feet for revenge.

Well guess what!? FUCK YOU! The Lord heaven up above wouldn't want you now. You are going to hell, you mean old bitch!

Ichigo fell on his back, hearing something crack. He hoped to dear God that it was just the biscuit he bought from the coffee shop.

A loud ring of laughter that was so agonizingly familiar it hurt, reached his ears and the orange-haired boy cursed again, getting up to his feet to settle business once and for all.

"GRIMMJOW!?" he roared, snapping the blue-haired psychopath's attention to him. Ichigo covered up his possibly bloody nose modestly. "What the hell are you doing here!?"

"Saving your pansy ass, that's what!" the azure-eyed freak shouted back. The green-eyed rock who stood beside him looked painfully bored, staring around anything that could possibly interest him.

Though that was impossible.

You could probably shove a highlighter into some poor accountant's eye, and at the meantime, throw off all his highlighted papers for the fun of irony into the depths of a 5-floored-building, shred all his social security cards, driver's license, the invitation to his son's wedding and all of his credit cards and mortgage bills and so on and so on and etcetera just in case the unfortunate fucker lived.

And THAT… _still_ wouldn't be enough to even allow the emo rock to comment something surreal about it.

Try stabbing a Bengal tiger's eye who HAD an accountant job and throw all his painstakingly highlighted papers off a 5-floored-building, shred all his social security cards and everything and maybe even rip off his tie that'd he'd been doing for like, 2 hours since he didn't even own a freaking thumb, and then we'd be talking.

But once again, that was a whole 'nother concept that he didn't really care enough to indulge about.

"Get lost," Ichigo scowled, now reverberating back from his thoughts.

"Shut the fuck up!" Grimmjow growled back at him. "Why the hell didn't you stay down!?"

Ichigo blinked; he actually kind of half-expected Grimmjow, the ever endearing jackass, to maybe crack a joke or something upon the situation. What the hell? What was that bastard so pissed about?

He should be the one pissed here!

"You don't tell me what to do, jack—Augh!" a wrench was then lashed at his direction, with the crooked end almost gashing at his face if it wasn't thrown vertically. Thank _God_.

"Now that's going to hurt," Nel remarked to Ulquiorra with a giggle. He said nothing, because he probably missed it anyway. Snarky bastard who was too busy looking all around the place.

HAH! You freaking missed the entertainment of the YEAR, moron! HAHA!!

"I wonder what'll happen if you pop it…" the girl added silently to her 'companion'-of-just-this-one-time since Ichigo and Grimmjow were too busy bickering at each other.

Ulquiorra didn't say anything. Just wondered how the girl's morbid curiosity of sickening gashes developed.

"WHAT THE HELL!?" Ichigo screeched, slapping his right hand at his face to try and cover the red and purple and green and rainbow-colored cheek that _stung like hell_.

"I already told you to stay still, dammit!" Grimmjow yelled back just as loudly.

"That was a fucking wrench, wasn't it!?"

"Yes, dumbass!"

"Well why didn't you tell me that a shitty wrench would freaking whirlwind around and slap me in the face!?"

"I already tried to assist your pansy ass, Princess! And by the way, you're welcome."

"You _punched _me on my freaking nose, jackass! That wasn't fucking 'assistant' at all!"

"WELL if you just would've fucking stayed still on the damned floor, we wouldn't even be having this fucking terrific conversation!"

"Fuck you, Eye shadow!"

"No, no. Fuck your _sister!_"

Ichigo gritted his teeth, trying to stomp on the wanting rise to throttle Grimmjow.

Wait, wait. _Why_ was he trying to stomp on the on growing fucking desire? He should be welcoming it with both arms and thanking God that it came to him in the first place!

"C'mere you bastard. I'll freaking kill you!"

The blue-haired maniac only grinned, until that is, Ulquiorra gave him a somber look that absolutely did nothing to faze the boy. Nel smacked him on the back of his head softly and that kind of did the trick.

"Augh. To hell with this," Grimmjow growled, grumbling all the while. "Save your breath, Princess."

Ichigo raised a brow to him, growling irritably. "Why?"

"Because you'll need it later," Ulquiorra answered almost immediately, his piercing gaze knifing at his cousin's back. He hoped that holes would start to form in there and sort of eradicate him.

Ichigo was still lost.

"Because we started a motherfucking gang, dumbass!" Grimmjow finally snapped.

"And you're one of it!" Nel supplied with a smile. It strikes him how a girl like her always hung around these misfits.

On another thought, though. Ichigo frowned. "I see Rukia's not with you, huh?"

"No. She's inside my ass drinking a cup of coffee. Of course she's not here! It's your fuckin' fau—oh snap."

Grimmjow's eyes widened. Not in the 'oh shit I will pee my freaking pants right about now' way but like the 'oh shit, this is so not the right time' way. Nel's mouth formed into a gasp, and Ulquiorra wasn't really all that surprised.

It was inevitable after all, hanging around with a bunch of kids that could've been part of a circus gig.

Ichigo gave them puzzled look before turning around as well. A rock suddenly hit him on the side of his hip. He scowled. That was the third time he'd been assaulted, and it did not bode well with him.

The bastards… they were going to fucking _die!_

All of a sudden, Ulquiorra squinted. "That's a crowbar." He observed.

Grimmjow blinked at him before snarling. "Fuck no. Where?"

He didn't answer. As it obviously was THERE and clearly SEEABLE with a tiny amount of strain by the optic nerve, all big and black and shiny and fucking in the middle of the scene, comfortably leaned against by one of the morons who threw a rock at Ichigo.

Nel nodded a second later, eyes wide with realization. "Yeah, it's there."

Ichigo joined them, scowling even further. "That is just so damn _perfect_." He turned to Grimmjow with a sour look on his face. "You didn't freaking say they had _weapons!_" he seethed.

"Okay, Princess, chill." He gritted out. "I didn't even know they'd fucking erupt out of _fucking nowhere!_"

"Well, guess what!? They're here!"

"And what the hell do you want _me _to do about it?"

They seriously sounded pathetic. Ulquiorra rolled his eyes. Nel just stayed quiet.

"I don't know. But we seriously gotta fucking _run_. They have like, maybe—thirteen or twelve fucking guys with them."

"Psh. I _ain't_ running, Princess."

"Who the hell is this 'Princess'!?"

"It's you, dipshit!" Grimmjow growled. "And don't even try to talk smack about you not having a princessy ass, because you do. You even want to run away from these pansies? For fuck's sake, Ichigo, you are _sad_."

"What the hell are you talking about? That absolutely didn't even make sense at all!"

"I don't give a rat's ass." Grimmjow frowned. "We can fucking take them on." And it only took these words of motivation to encourage the azure-eyed lad to step forward and point out the tough looking guy who had the crowbar from the rest of his crew.

Maybe he was the leader?

"Grimmjow, what the hell are you doing?" Ichigo hissed.

"I think you're buddy's right there, pal!!" The tough-looking-guy with the crowbar answered, smirking. "Who do you think _you_ are? We are the Quick Routers, and for your information, this is _our_ turf!" He slapped the crowbar against his open palm, trying to intimidate them.

"Shut up," Grimmjow retorted. "You're not even fucking taller than me. And what the hell kind of name is Quick Routers? Well, oh my fuck. That is about the saddest name I have ever heard in my whole life." He flashed a maniacal grin.

Ulquiorra's eyes trailed off to the side. For once, he actually agreed with his cousin. Ichigo slapped his forehead.

This had irritated the tough-looking-guy who carried the crowbar. "You're going to regret this day, douche bag!!"

"Don't cuss if you don't fucking know how!!" Grimmjow's grin widened.

"Don't fucking talk if you don't know what the hell's happening!" Ichigo interjected with a growl, trying not to kick off his Converse shoe and throw it at the blue-haired lad.

Grimmjow ignored him, and instead motioned for the tough-looking-guy who carried the crowbar.

"Come on, jumbo shrimp, fucking bring it."

It didn't take a whole lot of words for the mob of hooligans to grin back at him, and a second later, a thousand "SHIIIING!"'s were heard, the sound that was produced whenever somebody drew a weapon. Piles and piles of crowbars, wrenches, and all imaginable metal shop tools gleamed under the sun, looking very intimidating and shit. Ulquiorra took this moment to confirm what Ichigo had said about his cousin. His piercing gaze wanted to stab at his neck.

"You are _such_ a dumbass, Grimmjow."

-X-

Violet eyes stared. It was time for fourth period, English class, and Ms. Bunk would surely have a stroke if she discovered that she'd be all alone amidst the jungle that is a high school classroom, with no aspiring-literature student to teach. That, and she was kind of tired of just being alone all by herself, glancing at the perimeter of the roof.

Hey, did you know that if you ever wanted to run off a 2-floored building, nothing would stop you? Like, if you just _ran_ and didn't stop, there'd be no fence to hold you off. Which was really stupid, since, what if there was just some guy leaning and he fell off accidentally? Sure, the school rooftop would look absolutely ridiculous with white picket fences, but it was better than suing lawyers and crying parents, right?

Because she just totally noticed that... ... Okay, random.

Violet eyes kept staring. Two boys had barged into the rooftop and stood in front of her, preventing the _aspiring-literature_ student to be taught.

She had tried sidestepping, but they followed her. She had tried cutting in between them, but they held their ground, grinning. But she most _definitely_ will NOT try and go under them. That was BEYOND her pride, and truthfully, it would be kind of easy since she was... short... and all, but tell her something that wasn't as degrading as actually admitting it.

She was SLIM, dammit. Not _short_. Or _skinny._ SLIM.

"Hey short chick, we need ya for a second." the one with the helmet hair and slight gaping teeth said.

"And why should I bother myself with you?" Rukia raised a brow. She already had a group of misfits under her wing, and a really hyperactive girl with green hair. And they already had enough drama as it is, so _why_ should she take in a helmet-haired moron?

"Because if you don't, there'll be _terrible_ consequences. Terrible, terrible." answered his buddy, who had black hair that was spiked in the front.

"Define _terrible_," Rukia mused. "You don't know what kind of _terrible consequences_ I've already been in, boy."

"Ooh, like breaking your nails and fuckin' up your hair?" the helmet-head mocked, while his friend snickered.

"You know what? It's _actually_ worse than having gang fights and getting higher than a damn swing!" Rukia said, mocked sweetness trailing her voice. She added sugar-coated smile for a winning touch.

The two boys scoffed. "Whatever. Trust us, princess, it ain't as bad as what _we're_ about to do."

And before she could do anything, the damned people actually had the _nerve_ to put a potato sack over her head and lift her off the ground, just like in the movies. Only without a doubt, cheesier.

-X-

"You fucking idiot!!" Ichigo screamed a second later, as they ran for their lives.

"Don't talk to me, pansy ass!" Grimmjow bit back, having a little trouble running since Ichigo had freaking pulled him up by the collar and pushed him ahead.

Ulquiorra meanwhile, had ditched them. Again.

"Oh no, no, no." Ichigo said sarcastically, as loud as he could to make a point. "Why the hell should I _not_ go ahead and say something smart after you just fucked this whole thing up! Who the hell says "Bring it" to an armed mob of thugs when they got a girl and a psycho freak's angsty cousin on THEIR gang!?"

"Stop bitching, Princess!" Grimmjow growled. "My fucking number one rule is to never refuse to a fight! And guess what, you raped my rule! You fucked my rule. And do you hear ME bitching about it? NO-- OHHH shit, Nel!" he said aloud, as if just having realized about something.

Ichigo gave him a crazy stare. "What?"

Grimmjow looked at him before suddenly snapping. "We FORGOT the fucking girl!" he screamed some more, and skidded to a stop. Ichigo did the same. The orange-haired lad turned his head, an 'O' shaped form starting at his mouth.

"They took Nel!"

"No shit, Sherlock!" Grimmjow snapped. It amazed the blue-haired boy for a second, that he even _knew_ who Sherlock Holmes was... so much that he could _actually_ use it against the Shakespearean boy.

Ichigo scowled at him effervescently "I thought you had her!"

"Why the hell would _I_ have her!?"

"She's your freaking responsibility!"

"You hypocrite! Don't talk to me about my damned responsibilities when you fucked yours up!" Grimmjow seethed, turning to the bunch of hooligans who were now more or less gaining on them by just a mere couple of inches-- foot. "HEY!" he screamed, his voice sounding gruff and raspy.

Ichigo's eyes widened at him. "Idiot! Don't gain attention by-- fuck it," he cut off suddenly, scowling further. It was too late, anyway. This whole shit already started and they could only wait for the big fucking "BAM!" to end it. There was no use stopping _anything_ at this point on. Fuck it all. "I don't even _care_ anymore." He mumbled to himself, livid stares and all.

"You assholed-shits!" the azure-eyed boy called at them, meanwhile. The mob slowed down. "Where the hell did you take Nel to!?"

"What the fuck are you talking about, man?!" they answered back, angry yells reverberating.

"I'm talking about beating your damn ass if she doesn't appear right beside Princess in the next 2 seconds!" Grimmjow growled.

"We don't have her!"

"Oh, don't you _fucking lie._" Ichigo muttered a second later, rolling his head to his shoulder and giving an exasperated sigh. He gave them a narrowed stare, the kind where he slightly raises one corner of his upper lip into a cross between a scowl and sneer. "You know they have her," he beckoned to Grimmjow.

"Fuckin' weirdoes!" the leader, AKA the tough guy who carried a crowbar, yelled to them, flicking them off at the meanwhile. "We only have that damned midget girl!"

Ichigo, who was mumbling curses to Grimmjow the entire time, paused, and turned his head to the gang of thugs. He sucked in his teeth, his face a frighteningly curious expression.

_"What?"_

-X-

"Oh, this is so stupid." Rukia scowled, turning to face Helmet-hair and his friend, Punk-poser. "You absolutely had to kidnap me? Do you know how much I'm missing out on? Schoolwork, homework, AP points? And do you know how much _you_ idiot have to do to just even GET listed into my French class?"

Helmet-hair growled at her, falling down on a nearby metal chair. "Shut up, girl!" he screamed at her, slapping his open palm on his lap to further emphasize his point, "You've been talking for about how long now! Just shut up!"

"If you think that I'm just one of those sissy girls, then you're wrong." Rukia glared at them. Her hands and legs were tied together within a wooden chair, and the sole light inside the dark "room" if it _was_ even a room, or an abandoned old building, was the light bulb that dangled in front of her. Across the girl was a table, which lay a deck of cards and a box of half-eaten donuts. Helmet-hair's elbows leaned against the rim of the table, and he seemed to be sighing.

"You're one tough cookie." he muttered to himself, massaging the sides of his temples with his index finger.

Ignoring how lame that comment was, Rukia scowled further. "Damn right."

Helmet-hair plastered on a somewhat twisted smile, a purple vein that was so horrible compared to the hue of her eyes going up into his forehead and _popping_. Pop! "Alright, sweetie, if that's what you suggest the kind of girl you are, then--" he paused, smirking at her all of a sudden and gesturing for Punk-poser.

For a nerd, he got down the intimidating facial expressions right.

Which by the way, where _was_ his friend, Punk-poser, hanging around all this time? The room or building was kind of dark, now that she scanned her eyes around it. She suspected that there may be rats or roaches running around beside her foot right now, since something twitched. Disgusting. But when Rukia looked up suddenly, because it got very quiet between Helmet-hair and Punk-poser, and the area seemed to be rather... secretive and tense, her eyes narrowed.

It wasn't the running around of rats or roaches that _twitched_, it was a sound. A sound of a pistol being cocked at her across the table, courtesy of Punk-poser.

"Drop it," she commanded in a low voice.

"Oh, oh, I don't think that _you_ have the power to say orders or threats here, _missy_. One click of this baby will BLOW you away!" Helmet-hair grinned, standing up against his chair. It scraped against the floor of what seemed to be tile or... really creaky wood. Gravel? Though Helmet-hair seemed to be enjoying the dark look on her face, like a snake that could just _spike_ at you if you released her.

"You don't know how dangerous that is," Rukia hissed, reminiscing in her puddle of memories. "You have _no idea_."

"I think I do," Helmet-hair argued teasingly, grin widening. His gaping tooth seemed to space more as his grin widened, which was a really sad thing.

Rukia's eyes narrowed once again, pursing her lips and saying no more. She looked at the boy with the flat brown hair that seemed to stick to his neck and his in-proportional teeth, how his green eyes shimmered when the light bulb hit against them.

Something dawned on the girl. _That's it!_ She frowned, and when Helmet-hair gave her a slightly hesitant look, she swung her right leg and kicked the table from under. The deck of cards and the box of half-eaten donuts were airborne, and a bullet flew as a vibrating "BANG!" echoed.

-X-

Sorry. **Hope that this was enough**. C:

**Review and Alert please**! You really wanna know what happened?


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